Brothers and Sister
by adambrodylover
Summary: Beth Scott's world rapidly changes when her twin brother Lucas joins the basketball team, much to the displeasure of their half brother Nathan and father Dan. And why does Nathan's best friend Clay keep looking at her?
1. Their Place In All This

I hummed to myself as I looked through my movie collection. Over the years, it had grown quite extensive. My mom and my brother always liked to say I was the queen of movie quotes and trivia. I couldn't help it. Movies were my passion. They were the reason I auditioned for every school play, willing to appear in the smallest of roles for a chance to lose myself in a character. Maybe it was because my own life was so typically small town.

The curse of too much choice was when I was unable to choose. With a sigh, I headed out of my room to find a snack. I was taken aback when I heard my mother's quiet, serious tone.

"Take it off."

She abruptly left my twin brother's room and curiously, I looked in to see Luke dressed in a Ravens varsity jersey.

"Lucas!" I said in shock. I could very well understand our mother's discomfort in seeing it. The only part of my life that was not small town was ironically the part that we all avoided most in our family, and that was the topic of Lucas' and my biological father, Dan Scott. Dan had abandoned our mom and by extension, the two of us, for basketball. Of course, he got another girl pregnant barely even three months later and stood by her, ignoring the three of us, and thus creating the hell spawn known as Nathan Scott. "Is this why Whitey wanted to talk to you?"

"You heard about that?" he said in surprise.

"Everyone heard about it," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Just… what are you doing?"

He shrugged, turning typically broody. I rolled my eyes and went into the kitchen. I rarely won against him when he went all broody like this. So I picked up the phone and dialled Skills, wondering if Luke had informed him of his plans. In our group, everyone got along but everyone also had a best friend: Jimmy and Mouth, Haley and Luke, Fergie and Junk, and me and Skills. I chatted with his mom for a bit before she put her son on.

"Sup, Beth?" he answered.

"Some crazy idea about Lucas playing basketball at school," I said. "Heard about it?"

"Yeah, we heard," he answered. I knew he would have. However much Skills wanted to act like a total player, he was also a total gossip. "We said we wouldn't be his excuse not to."

"Are you insane?" I said bluntly.

He paused. "Is this about your brother?"

"By brother you better mean Luke," I said sweetly, warning him not to bring up Nathan.

Of course Skills being Skills, he ignored me. "You know who I mean."

I went quiet as Luke passed by me, heading out the front to talk to Mom. Once he was out of earshot, I resumed the conversation.

"I don't understand how he would want to be near him," I paused. "Or Dan," I said quietly.

"Damn, you know how good Luke is," he said. "Why does Nathan Scott deserve to take this too?"

I still wasn't convinced. That evening Mom was being quiet, so I knew her head was in the past. It was very odd to even catch a glimpse of my father. We all ran in very different social circles, and he wasn't mentioned in our house. It was ironic that his brother, our Uncle Keith, was one of my absolute favourite people. He was the only reason I could bear having the last name Scott in this town.

After a quiet dinner, I was reading out the front when Luke came out, clad in his typical shirt from Keith's Body Shop and a basketball. He gave me a look, as if waiting for me to tell him off about this whole basketball thing.

"Want some company?" I asked instead.

He gave me a look of surprise. "Sure."

I was good at basketball, but not nearly as talented as Luke was. Still, we still occasionally played together on the River Court. I could hold my own against most of the guys there. Tonight though, I was grateful that it was just the two of us. We didn't speak, we just played.

A car pulled up beside the court, and I paused as Nathan got out, followed by his friend Tim who remained by the car. I was proud of Luke however, as he made an effortless shot into the hoop, letting Nathan know his presence wasn't worth acknowledging. Nathan caught it and sent us a smirk.

"The two of you think you can play, huh?"

This may have been the actual first time we had had a conversation. We had gone to a different elementary school, but from seeing each other at high school, there had been an unspoken rule that had Lucas and I ignoring Nathan's presence, and vice versa. It was a rule I would have been happy to remain intact.

"Nice shot," Nathan continued, when Luke and I just glared him down. "Think you can hit that against a double team, down by two, packed house telling you that you suck?" he circled Luke, and I moved protectively closer to Luke. Nathan just smirked. "How about just two people telling you that you suck?"

"How about the two of us telling you you're an asshole?" I retorted, and both boys looking at me in surprise. It occurred to me suddenly that I looked more like Nathan than I did Lucas, with our dark hair and blue eyes. I hated that. I didn't want to be anything like him or his damn father.

"Beth," Luke said gently, trying to calm me down.

"Watch your sister there," Nathan said condescendingly.

"You can go f-"

"What do you want?" Luke addressed Nathan, purposely interrupting me before I could go off.

"What do you want, man?" Nathan spat. "I mean other than my girlfriend and my spot in the line-up, huh? None of us want you on the team. I don't want you, the guys don't want you. My girlfriend sure as hell doesn't want you."

"Who are you kidding, Nathan?" I spat. "_You_ don't want him on the team. You feel threatened."

Nathan took a step towards me, his eyes flashing with anger. But Luke was between us staring him down before he had chance to get any closer to me.

"Threatened?" he scoffed, throwing off his anger. "How about this? You and me, Lucas, one on one. You can name the time and the place. If you win, I'll quit the team. If I win, you and your sister crawl back into your little hole and you remember your place in all this."

Luke grabbed my arm without turning around, knowing I was about to say something. I hesitated, and then didn't respond.

"Good girl," Nathan said, his voice dripping with condescension. To Luke, he said, "Time and place, baby, time and place."

Luke and I stood in silence as we watched them leave.

I let out a long, shaky breath. "Okay, I have officially changed my mind," I said angrily. Luke turned to me. "You have to do this. _Our place in this?_ He is a pig, and he deserves nothing more than the ass kicking and the beautiful humiliation that would accompany it."

"You shouldn't let him antagonise you like that," Luke said.

I sent him an incredulous look. "Are you kidding me? Did you not hear what he said?"

"He feeds off the reactions, Beth," he snapped.

I grabbed the ball off him and effortlessly made a basket. "Be pissy all you want, Lucas. Just beat him."

My complete inadequacy around a kitchen meant that my mother utilised my skills with numbers instead, so my part time jobs revolved around doing the books for Karen's Café and Keith Scott's Body Shop.

I arrived at the body shop just as Luke was leaving with the tow truck, and I sent him a wave as I walked in.

"Ah, there's my favourite niece," Keith said, and I grinned.

"How bad are the books?" I said knowingly, and he laughed as he led me to his messy desk.

"I did what you asked me to do," he said innocently.

"Leave them until I get here?"

"That's it," he said. "So how you doing, kiddo?"

My smile immediately dimmed. "I take it from your tone of voice you have spoken to Luke."

"He said you're having some trouble with all this," Keith said.

"Well, I'm not," I lied. "I'm all for Lucas showing Nathan where our place is in all this."

Keith looked concerned, and opened his mouth to reply. Thankfully, a customer arrived.

"Go on, I'll get started," I shooed him away and with a reluctant look, he left me at the desk.

I liked numbers. They made sense to me in a way life often didn't. So I bent my head down and started to work. The customer left and before Keith could approach me again, a door slammed and I heard the sound of Dan Scott's voice. I gritted my teeth and ignored their conversation as much as I could.

"Nathan's got a shot here, Keith. A real future." Wow. Dan really had some nerve. Did Lucas not deserve that same shot?

"A real future. Let me ask you something," Keith said. "Do you ever even think about Lucas' future? Or Beth's? Do you ever think about them?"

"I can't change the fact these kids exist," Dan stated matter of factly. "If I could, I would."

I couldn't stand to be in the same room as this man. I didn't know what we, or our mother, had done to deserve this cruelty. I had been under no illusions – I didn't consider Dan Scott to be my father in the ways that mattered. That role belonged solely to Keith.

I came up behind Keith, but Dan didn't see me because his attention was taken by Lucas' arrival. He seemed to have heard just what I had. Dan and Luke stared at each other for a long moment.

"Luke," I said gently, the same way he had tried to calm me down when we had been confronted by Nathan at the River Court. Keith, Dan and Luke all looked at me at the same time. But Luke was the only one I cared about.

Luke abruptly threw the keys to Keith who caught them and started to walk away. I paused beside Dan.

"I don't know why it bothers you that we exist," I said bluntly. "Considering for the past sixteen years, you haven't existed in our lives at all."

With that, I walked out. I didn't find Luke. I knew he needed the time alone to process what Dan had said. I didn't want to think about it at all.

"What's up?" Skills asked when I showed up at his house. I held up a bottle of vodka I had managed to get with a fake ID.

"Wanna drink?" I said bluntly.

"Yo, what happened?" he said, looking at me as if I was about to break down. I was determined not to.

"I need a drink," I said. "You can either join me or I can find someone else."

Thankfully, his parents were away so we had the place to ourselves. I quickly started to drink, ignoring my best friend's look of concern. Though I had thought he was drinking, I got drunk incredibly quickly and he seemed to remain sober.

I danced around the living room to some of Skill's favourite rap songs, which after hanging with him so often I know knew off my heart. With a giggle, I collapsed onto the couch, and he leaned beside me.

"You ready to talk?"

My smile faded. "It's humiliating," I said softly. I hated how I let this bother me. "Dan came by the body shop today."

"What did he say to you?" he demanded overprotectively.

"He didn't know I was there," I said. "Or Luke, who came to hear the best part. That he wishes we didn't exist." I wiped my eyes angrily. "I don't want to care, Skills. I just want it all to go back to the way it was before."

"I know you do, girl," he said gently. I stood up and almost fell down.

"Oops," I giggled.

"You know your mother's going to kill you."

Even though I knew he was right, I couldn't stop laughing. I wasn't the type to normally drink (we weren't exactly invited to the popular kids parties after all) so Skills was a bit at a loss of what to do. In the end, he called Luke to come and get me.

I proceeded to entertain Skills with rapping, determined not to think about Dan, this time without the music.

Luke walked in, looking at me in shock. "Have a bit to drink, Beth?"

"Maybe," I giggled, falling into his arms. "Wanna rap with me, Luke?"

"Don't look at me, dawg," Skills said defensively. "You try stopping your sister when she wants to do something."

"Okay, I'll take you home," he said. "Though I don't know how we're gonna hide this from Mom."

"Mom!" I said dramatically, slapping my hand to my forehead. "We'll pretend I'm sick!"

"Yeah, let's see how that works," Luke said, as he and Skills together walked me home. Mom was in the kitchen cooking dinner.

Seeing me being supported by the two boys, rapping loudly, was a dead giveaway I admit.

"What the hell happened?" she demanded.

"She had a rough day," Skills offered in explanation.

Mom took over, steering me into my bedroom.

"This isn't like you, Beth," she said in concern. "What are you doing, drinking?"

"I just wanted to forget stuff," I said, waving my hand.

"What stuff?"

"I can't tell you," I said. I knew it would hurt her, just the same as it had hurt me. As it had to have hurt Luke.

"Keith called," she said gently. "She said Dan came by," I remained silent. "He said he wished you didn't exist."

"I know he's not my dad in the ways that matter," I said quietly. "But I don't know why he has to hate us so much."

"Me too, baby," she said. "Me too."

I woke up the next day with a hangover that sent me straight to the bathroom to throw up.

"Oh God," I muttered as I stumbled down the hallway.

"Morning sunshine," Luke grinned. I scowled at him.

"Shut up," I said, annoyed he was enjoying my pain.

"Oh, look who's up," Mom said.

"Grounded?" I said as I helped myself to coffee.

"Two weeks," she confirmed.

"Awesome," I groaned.

"Beth, I know things are difficult right now," she said. "But drinking is no answer to your problems."

"No, the solution to my problems would be seeing a certain someone being put in his place," I said, turning to my brother. "Lucas?"

He groaned. "Who told you?"

"Haley," I said in a 'duh' tone. "She texted me this morning. Wait! Mom, I have to see this!"

"Well that's too bad," she said, leaving the room, but not before adding over her shoulder, "Grounded, remember?"

I followed her into her bedroom. "I have to be there."

"You need to stay away from all this," she said, and even though I was annoyed with her, I could detect the genuine concern for me in her voice. I hated making my mother worry. "Going there and watching Nathan and Lucas play, what will that do for you?"

"Mom," I said gently. "We are in this whether we want to be or not. All Nathan and Dan want us to do is disappear. To act like we don't exist. I am done hiding. And that's what it will look like I'm doing if I'm not there supporting my brother tonight."

Mom looked torn. I had never managed to change her mind when it came to discipline, but to my surprise she seemed to understand. "Fine, but that is it –"

I cut her off with a tight hug. "Thank you," I said softly, and she hugged me back in return.

I was grounded except for school, drama club and this game between Nathan and Lucas. Word had already spread like wildfire about the game, and I arrived at the River Court early with Lucas who wanted to get warmed up before Nathan's arrival. Jimmy and Skills were the only ones there before us, dressed in suits and looking every bit the professional commentators they wanted to be one day. I rolled my eyes at them in amusement as they began, long before the crowds of people started to arrive.

"Thanks for letting me know," I said to Haley as she arrived.

"No worries," she said with a smile. "I think Luke would have hidden it from you if he could. He's worried about you."

"I'm fine," I said. Typical Luke though, trying to keep me away from all this as if it was his burden to carry.

"I heard you do a pretty mean rap," she said, bumping her hip against mine and making me laugh.

"Skills' fault," I said as my best friend came and stood beside me. More and more people were arriving.

"What's Skills' fault?" he asked.

"My knowledge of rap," I explained, watching as Luke tuned the crowd out and continued practicing.

"Yeah, you owe me for that," he laughed. "Sup, Haley?"

"Freaking out about this game," she said anxiously, looking distracted as Nathan finally arrived, to the whoops of the crowd. He was loving it.

"Douchebag," I muttered as he took the ball from Luke and dunked it.

Skills laughed at my comment and Haley just looked worried.

"He can do this, Hales," I said softly. "He has to."

"Okay folks, here we go. Fifteen by ones, make it, take it, win by one," Mouth announced. "And you can feel the intensity in the air."

Mouth wasn't wrong, as Nathan and Lucas met in the middle of the court to begin the game.

"You ready for this?" Nathan said, glaring at Luke as he gave him the ball.

"Why not?" Luke said, giving the ball back to Nathan. Neither wanted that first shot.

"It's your life," Nathan said, giving the ball back to Luke.

"Yeah," Luke said, briefly glancing over at me. I nodded at him, and he turned back to Nathan. "It is."

With that, he made the first basket of the night.

The smack talk continued as the boys played furiously against each other. I don't think I'd ever seen Luke so intense about something that wasn't a book before.

Everything was going fine until Nathan elbowed Luke in the nose to get a shot in. Haley gasped and I automatically went to go to Luke, but Skills held me back.

"You don't wanna do that," he said, though he looked just as furious as I did. I understood his point though. Luke didn't need his sister running in and trying to save him. After spitting the blood out of his mouth, Luke addressed Nathan.

"No foul, basket counts."

"Idiot," I groaned quietly, and Skills scoffed.

"Like you're not just as proud as Luke is,"

I elbowed him playfully in the stomach and returned my gaze to the game.

"Besides," Luke warned Nathan. "You won't score again."

"The basket counts, and it's 14-12, game point for Nathan," Mouth commentated. "He could win it all, right here."

I felt sick with nerves, praying with everything in me that Luke would win this. For me, for Mom, but most of all, for himself.

Nathan went to make his winning basket, and Luke pulled off a miraculous block, leaving us all cheering wildly, especially when a moment later he caught up by another point.

"You can do it, Luke!" I called, and he sent a grin my way. Nathan glared at me, but addressed Luke.

"You're down by one, man," he said. "Don't choke now."

Luke answered in the form of another basket. My heart was in my throat.

"You can do this, you can do this," I muttered, clinging to Skill's arm.

"This is it folks, no going back now," Mouth announced. "The next basket wins it."

"Come on, Lucas!" Haley called.

"You can do it, dawg!" Skills yelled.

"He's never mentioned you, man," Nathan snapped at Luke. "Neither of you, not once in all these years."

"This is for my mom," Luke said, and I felt faint as I watched the ball fly through the air, and scream as Luke made that winning shot. I launched myself at him, ahead of the crowd, and he caught me easily in a hug.

"You did it, Luke," I whispered. I pulled away as all our friends fought to congratulate him, and I couldn't help but beam at Nathan and the glare on his face. I went to look away, but was surprised when I noticed that someone was watching me. In this war of Nathan versus Lucas, nobody really bothered to look at the sister who was decent at basketball but no threat to either of the boys.

It was Clay Evans. He wasn't looking at me with anger, or disappointment, which were the expressions on his friends' faces. He was looking at me like he was trying to figure something out. Sure that Nathan's best friend couldn't be looking at me, not in any way that was less than unfriendly, I checked behind me. When I looked back, the light haired boy gave me an amused grin, that grin that girls at school never shut up about. Unnerved, I looked for Luke.

I spotted him as he was approaching Peyton, and I could see the clear jealousy written across Nathan's face.

"Be careful, Luke," I said when Luke returned to our celebrating group. Beating Nathan at the game he loved was one thing. Hitting on his girlfriend was another.

"You worry too much, little sister."

I scowled. "I am your little sister by barely five minutes, Lucas Eugene."

"Well, Elizabeth Moira," he said, grinning at me. I couldn't help but smile back. "It's enough to call you little sister."

"I'll let it fly tonight," I said, hugging him again. "Because you did it, big brother."

As we listened to the cheers of our friends, it really felt like everything was about to change.


	2. Acceptance

**Acceptance**

It was the night of Luke's big game, and I was scrambling to finish dinner at Mom's café.

"Karen, you ready to go?" Keith called to my mom as I finished up. I hopped up from my seat and accepted my jacket from Haley with a smile.

"Oh, I'm not going," Mom smiled. "I've decided to stay open, I could use the business."

"Mom," I said, slightly disappointed in her. Didn't she understand what a big deal this game was?

"You talked to Luke about this?" Keith asked.

"No, but he'll understand," Mom said, and then looked at me. "Right?"

It was only then I could really see how stressed she was about it. However hard it was for me to look at Dan, it must have just as hard if not worse for her. She had loved him once and he had abandoned her. I had never loved him, so it really did have to be worst on her. "Right," I said softly.

"Karen…" Keith began.

"She doesn't want to go," Haley interrupted. "She doesn't want to see her high school sweetheart slash your brother Dan slash the jerk who abandoned Lucas and Beth slash the father of Nathan the star player slash my wrist if I hear this story again, let's go."

"Oh my God, Haley," I whispered, totally scandalised. I loved the girl, but God she really had some boundary issues. I followed her outside and she shrugged.

"It's why you said 'right'," she said. "You get she doesn't want to see Dan."

"Nobody wants to see Dan," I said, but added, "She should probably still go to support Luke."

Keith came outside. I took one last look at my mother through the window, and she had an anxious look on her face. Maybe she already regretted not coming.

* * *

I took a seat with my uncle and Haley in the gym, which was already getting crowded. Basketball might as well have been religion in this town. I waved at Skills, Junk and Fergie, wondering if Mouth and Jimmy were prepping for their big debut.

"Keith," Dan Scott had some nerve. He looked at me for a moment, just long enough so I knew that he saw I was there, before turning back to his brother. "Finally came to see your nephew play, huh big brother?"

"Yeah, I guess you can say that," Keith said, putting his hand on my arm to try and calm me down. Dan continued on his way while I seethed. "Don't let him bother you, Beth."

I tore open a packet of M&Ms with my teeth. "He doesn't bother me."

I ignored the knowing looks Haley and Keith gave each other, looking out onto the basketball court where the teams were warming up. He called Keith 'big brother'. It's what I called Lucas at my most affectionate. I didn't want to have anything in common with Dan Scott.

I spotted Clay Evans saying something to Nathan, who laughed. I wondered if it was at Luke's expense. With a frown, I shoved a bunch of M&Ms in my mouth, which was of course the moment that Clay looked over at me. He gave me another one of those amused grins and he returned his attention to his team.

"Do my eyes deceive me, or did Clay Evans just smile at you?" Haley said softly, thankfully so my uncle didn't hear.

I turned to her and showed her my overly chocolaty grin, cracking her up. "I turn the guys on, Hales, what can I say?"

"Oh that's charming," Keith laughed, seeing my mouth bulging with chocolate. I smirked as best I could before managing to swallow it all.

The game began as I shouted out to Luke, "Go Luke! You can do this!"

Well, in that game he certainly couldn't. It was like he had completely lost any basketball abilities, and my stomach sunk for him as Whitey was forced to bench him.

"Well, this could have gone better," Keith muttered sympathetically.

Luke disappeared after the game, and the three of us rode in silence on the way home. I knew Luke was most likely on the River Court, but knew better than anyone that he needed some time alone.

As I got into bed that night, I put on a movie that had nothing to do with basketball, and suddenly wondered why I had wanted change. Luke was where he deserved to be and he was choking.

* * *

I tried to talk to Luke but he just blew me off. So instead I threw myself into what I always did. I was either found in rehearsals for the latest school play, actually paying attention in class for a change, and generally avoiding the people who were sniggering over "Lucas Scott's choking".

In the middle of the week, Skills had some interesting news for us at lunch.

"So Kelly's English class," he said. "Luke punched Nathan."

"What?" Haley gasped.

"No way!" Mouth said, mouth gaping.

"Why?" I asked shrewdly. Luke wouldn't hit Nathan without provocation, of that I was sure.

Skills looked uncomfortable. "Nathan started him, I guess."

It wasn't hard to find out through the drama club gossip chain that Nathan had called Luke a bastard. My blood boiled, but I remained silent, wondering how it became Lucas and my shame instead of Dan's.

I didn't have any classes with Luke that day, and I had to rehearse some scenes after school so I didn't see him until dinner at the café.

I had been running late, so I grabbed a seat where Mom was seated and waved at Luke and Haley who were in the kitchen.

"How were rehearsals?" Mom greeted me with a kiss on the cheek.

"Going well," I said with a smile. "Working out all the kinks and everything."

"When's opening night?" she asked as Luke came over.

"In a few weeks," I said. "I was gonna grab tickets for you guys and Keith. Skills wants to come but he fell asleep half way through the last one." I couldn't help but smile at the thought of my idiotic best friend, even if he was totally embarrassing.

"I'll be there," Mom promised, and I saw Luke clench his jaw. I felt bad. I knew he had felt let down when Mom hadn't come to the game. "So," she said to Luke as he sipped his water. "Are you going to tell me about the fight or just assume I know about it while I yell at you?"

Haley had literally just sat down, quickly said, "Is that the phone? I'll get it."

I couldn't blame her as she fled. However, she had probably already talked about it with Luke. I wanted to hear what had happened.

"Still here," Mom said, not looking impressed in the slightest.

"Mom, he had it coming," Luke said defensively.

"Did he call you a bastard?" I asked, my voice trembling with anger.

Luke sent me a sympathetic look, but Mom forged ahead with her lecture, "No, it doesn't matter what Nathan said. You know, they called me today. I was certain they had the wrong Scott. And then they told me they had two Scotts and I could take my pick. Honestly, Lucas, fighting in class. Fighting at all!"

"But the guy was being a jerk!" Luke yelled.

"And this is suddenly a surprise to you? He hasn't been a jerk before?" she responded.

"No, he's always a jerk!" he said.

"How long are we supposed to sit back and take this, Mom?" I said quietly, my anger simmering just under the surface. "They walk around like Luke and I are the embarrassments, not Dan for what he did. Not Nathan for anything he does."

"Beth," Mom began, sounding annoyed. "Neither of you need to stoop down to his level. You got drunk, Lucas is getting into fights."

"Oh, good," I snapped, getting up. "So you agree with the rest of the town that Luke and I are the embarrassments. Thanks, Mom."

I headed out of the café, ignoring Mom's call of, "Elizabeth Moira, that is not what I said – " as I slammed the door behind me. I started to walk, wrapping my arms around me.

I found myself on the River Court, where Skills, Fergie and Junk were playing a game while Jimmy and Mouth commentated.

"Beth Scott, ladies and gentlemen," Mouth announced as I arrived on the court. "Making a triumphant return to the River Court?"

"Yeah, you been missing a lot lately," Skills said.

"I saw you all at school today," I reminded them with a laugh. "However, if you need to be schooled on the court…"

"You can be on my team!" Junk quickly said.

"Hell no," Skills said. "Best friend right here!"

"Sorry Junk," I said with a grin, stealing the ball off Fergie and shooting an easy basket. "Skills made me pinky swear him years ago I'd always be on his team."

The guys started mocking Skills for his pinky swear, and he sent me a death glare. "Really?"

I couldn't help but laugh. This was why I always ended up at the River Court. We started to play and I was finally able to block out all this bad stuff about Nathan and Dan and just enjoy myself.

I arrived home later that night, with a triumphant grin on my face. Skills and I had broken out into a rap and a dance on the court when we wiped the floor with Junk and Fergie. I even got Jimmy to join in, getting him to rap as I attempted and failed hilariously at doing the worm.

Mom was waiting on the front step for me. I felt guilty for my blow up at her earlier. It wasn't even her I was mad at.

"Where have you been?" she asked quietly, as I took a seat beside her.

"River Court," I answered.

She nodded. "Look, we have to talk about this," she said. "No yelling, no anger. Do you think we can do that?" I nodded. "Good. I don't like what this is doing to you, Beth. I see the way you throw yourself into your rehearsals and your school work instead of dealing with all this."

"I wanted Luke to play," I said honestly. "But he choked, and I feel so bad for him. It made things worse instead of better. He gets it worse than I do at school, because Nathan thinks he's trying to take his place. I thought if I stayed away from it all I'd be less angry."

"Angry at Nathan?"

"A bit Nathan," I said honestly. "But mostly Dan. Because half the time Nathan talks it sounds like it came out of Dan's mouth and he's just the puppet. I don't want to be this angry, Mom. I don't want them to know that they bother me so much. How do you do it?"

She gave a little bitter laugh. "I have my moments, believe me," her voice turned gentle. "I don't regret one second of one day with you and Lucas. And that's what gets me through. Even though he chose basketball over me, over us, he still gave me the two of you."

I hugged Mom tightly. "I'm sorry I went off at you."

"It's okay," she said. "And it will be okay, Beth."

I nodded, hoping she was right. I was hoping that Lucas could prove, to himself above all, that he deserved to be on that court.

* * *

In English the next day, my teacher seemed to know that using one word to describe people wasn't going to work, so we were asked to write one word of what we wanted out of our lives.

I wrote 'acceptance'. I would accept that I couldn't change who my father or half-brother were. I would remind myself that my family with Mom, Luke and Keith were all I needed.

Mom joined Keith and I at the basketball game. And I saw Luke had blacked out the name 'Scott' on his jersey. I couldn't help but smile as I realised maybe we could all accept how things were from now on.

But that all changed in the moment that Luke made the game winning shot. Acceptance of your world was one thing until your whole world changed once again.


	3. Everything Has Changed

**Everything Has Changed**

Haley and I were hanging beside Luke as he got stuff out of his locker. His new found popularity was strange, to say the least.

One of the sluttiest girls in school twirled her hair and said, "Good game, Lucas."

"All right, I'm going to the tutoring centre so I can feel superior," Haley said, rolling her eyes at the skank. "Oh, they're playing 'Attack of the 50 Foot Woman' tomorrow, do you guys wanna go?"

"Sure," I agreed, always up for a movie.

"Count me in," Luke agreed.

Haley left with a wave.

"So, do you think winning the game is an aphrodisiac for all the skanks at this school?" I wondered.

Luke groaned. "Really?"

"What?" I laughed as I started to head to class. "You're the one who had a cheerleader naked in your backseat."

"Half naked," he corrected me. I had snorted with laughter when he had come home, actually blushing, after the game to reveal he had found Brooke Davis in the back of his car. Luke being Luke, was a gentleman and dropped her off home. I couldn't help but laugh as I headed to class.

* * *

"So when's your play?"

Skills made me jump and hit my head on my locker.

"Ow," I groaned. "You're not coming."

"You know they gonna advertise, right?"

I gave him a look. "You fell asleep in the last one."

"Yeah, but…"

"You heard about the bikini scene in this one didn't you?" I said knowingly.

"What?" he acted surprised as I pulled my books out and closed my locker door. "No, I wanted to see future Oscar winner Beth Scott…"

"Yeah, Mouth already told me you guys all know."

"Damn it," he muttered. "Well, plus side. I won't fall asleep."

I grinned at him. "You are so sweet to me."

A random girl approached us. "Hey, you're Lucas Scott's sister, right?"

Skills and I exchanged weirded out looks.

"Yeah," I said, waiting for the inevitable 'bastard' comment or something like it.

"Could you tell him Alyssa Collins thought he played an awesome game?" she said, handing me a piece of paper. "And give him my number? Thanks!"

She beamed before I could respond and bounced away. I stared at her, dumbfounded.

"You know this means you his pimp, right?"

"I'm not sure I want a cut of that," I said, making a disgusted face.

He quickly put his hand in the air. "I'll take it."

"You're disgusting," I informed him sweetly.

"I'll play you for it."

"Lucas pimping rights?" I considered it. "You're on, this afternoon at the River Court."

* * *

"So what are you guys playing for?" Luke asked. When he saw I was going to the River Court, he'd offered a lift and we'd picked Skills up on the way.

"Oh you know," Skills said, giving me a quick glance. "Enjoyment of the game."

"And fitness," I added. "Gotta keep fit."

"So this has nothing to do with any kind of pimping rights then?"

"What?" I fake laughed.

"That is ridiculous," Skills said, sounding just as bad as I did when lying.

"Yeah, Mouth told me."

"Damn it," I exclaimed.

"He's really earning the nickname Mouth today," Skills muttered.

"You guys never play against each other unless you're betting anyway," he reminded us. "And you can throw that number out, Beth."

"Why? Finally give into one of the skanks already after you?"

"Yeah, dawg, I heard that Brooke Davis was in the backseat of your car naked."

"Half naked," Luke corrected. "Let me guess, Mouth told you?"

"Nope that was me," I admitted freely. As we pulled up to the River Court, the easy going atmosphere in the car changed. The place had been trashed. We got out of the car silently to survey the damage. The basket was damaged, there was spray paint and trash everywhere.

"What happened here?" Skills asked.

"The team," Luke said, his jaw clenching. "They're hazing me. Keith said just to roll with it, that they do it to everyone when they join."

I crossed my arms, trying to remember that I was going to accept Nathan was a douchebag and not get so mad about it. "Okay," I said. "Got any rags in the car?"

That's how I ended up spending my afternoon, cleaning up the River Court and trying to get my aggression out by scrubbing.

Skills let out a whistle as Peyton Sawyer pulled up beside us. I quickly glanced at Luke, and then sent an amused look Skills' way. Luke's crush on Peyton was infamous in our group. The problem being in a group with your sibling? They found out everything.

"Hey," she said to Lucas, sending a nod to Skills and me. "Heard about this. I hoped it wasn't true."

I didn't trust this girl at all. Anyone who dated Nathan was not someone to be trusted. I was gratified by Luke's harsh tone, "What do you want, Peyton?"

"To finish Nathan's dirty work?" I muttered, and Luke sent a warning glare my way. Peyton looked slightly bothered, but didn't answer.

"Come on, let's go to mine and get more stuff to clean this up," Skills said, leading me away. We got some brooms and trash bags before heading back.

Luke remained silent as we continued to clean the River Court up. I sensed as I was burying my own anger, Luke's was rising. Hazing was one thing. But bringing the River Court into it was something else entirely.

* * *

The following night, I walked to the movie theatre, script in hand as I mumbled to myself, trying to memorise the lines as I walked.

"Hey," Haley called with a smile as I arrived. She was always early to everything.

"Hi," I said, putting my script away in my bag. "Luke not here yet?"

"No, not yet," she said with a grin. "Maybe he's out with one of those not at all skanky young ladies who have been hitting on him all week," she gave me a sly look. "Have you or Skills managed to pimp him out yet?"

I laughed. There really were no secrets around here. "Not yet," I said. "Though did you hear about Brooke Davis in the back of his car?"

"Yeah," she said. "Class all the way. Though I did hear about the River Court, it really sucks."

I sighed. "Yeah, well, hopefully this hazing crap stops soon. I think Luke's hitting Beth level of angry about it."

"Yikes," Haley said, well aware of my anger about the situation. Though Haley was better friends with Luke than with me, she was around so much she was like a sister.

"Yeah, well, I'm trying a Zen approach," I shrugged.

"How's that working out for you?" she said wryly.

"Well I haven't bitch slapped any of the team," I said. "So there's growth."

She laughed. "Yeah, some of them definitely deserve it," she said. "So how are rehearsals going?"

"Good," I said. "How's tutoring?"

Her face went slightly red. "Oh, yeah, fine," I gave her a puzzled look, wondering what she was hiding. She checked her watch. "Luke's running late."

I checked my own watch and frowned. "That's not like him," I said. We all tried to get prime seating and snacks when we caught a movie.

We chatted for a bit, but gradually got more and more worried. We didn't consider going in to see the movie without him. Eventually, we were half an hour late for the movie and decided to head home.

"I'll let you know what's going on," I promised her as I headed home. My stomach clenched. What had Nathan done know?

"Is Luke here?" I asked Mom when I got home.

She looked up from her book. "I thought he was with you and Haley?"

"He didn't show," I said, and she looked at me with worry. "His phone's going straight to voice mail."

We both wandered the house for a bit, unsettled, until we found ourselves in Luke's room waiting.

"Where have you been?" Mom asked with concern when Luke got home.

"Luke," I exhaled. His clothes were covered in mud. He looked like he'd been through hell.

"Nowhere," he muttered.

"What happened to you?" Mom asked.

"I had a little run in with the team," Luke said.

Mom sighed. "I am sorry that this so hard for you."

"Not as sorry as Nathan is going to be," I muttered.

"Beth," Mom said warningly.

"Mom, I tried to take the high road," Luke said seriously. "And I want to make you proud, I do. But Beth's right. There comes a certain point when you have to fight back. And I'm at that point."

I refrained from cheering. I knew Luke wouldn't want his sister fighting his battles for him, but that didn't mean I couldn't say, help him out with some revenge, right?

For once, Mom didn't argue. I sent Haley a text letting her know Luke was okay and what happened. She replied, _I know you have his back, especially with revenge. But let him know I've got his back too._

She was up to something. But as I pulled out my script and tried to concentrate, I had other things I had to worry about.

* * *

The Burning Boat Festival was a highlight of the year in Tree Hill. Throwing things from the past into a burning boat was supposed to be therapeutic. Every year, I threw my diary of the previous year into the flames. I didn't want anyone reading those thoughts, but I liked the process of writing them down. Skills used it as an opportunity to clean out his room of junk he no longer wanted.

"I feel cleansed," he sighed as we threw our stuff in.

"You feel cleansed from throwing old textbooks and mouldy food in there?"

"They weighed down on me," he said defensively and I laughed. We joined my mom and brother on the hill and cheered as the boat was lit and the flames blazed.

"New year," Mom bumped me, and I leaned against her as she wrapped an arm around me.

"New year," I repeated softly. "A better year," I decided.

Brooke appeared at my brother's side.

"So you my date tonight, Luke?" she asked, linking her arm through his. I rolled my eyes at her.

"You know Brooke, you don't have to act like this," Luke said.

"I know that," she said. "But you're the first guy to ever say it."

That was interesting. Maybe there was something more to Brooke Davis than hanging around in guy's cars half naked.

Skills tugged me away from Mom and said, "Next year, fireworks."

"Deal," I agreed, fist bumping him. We both quickly checked Mom hadn't heard, and laughed with relief when we saw her attention remained on the flames.

I turned and noticed Luke and Brooke were gone, and I wondered if it was together.

"Fergie and Junk want a rematch," Skills informed me. "You in?"

"Tonight?" I checked and he nodded. "Sure."

I spotted Luke over with Haley and sighed in relief. Luke hadn't changed that much to go off and hook up with Brooke. There was a comfort in that.


	4. Unwanted Heroes

**Unwanted Heroes**

School had mellowed a bit. Luke had stood up for himself against Nathan and the hazing had stopped, miraculously enough. I didn't even get to get in a good revenge plan. I managed to memorise my lines and really get into _King Lear_, in which I was playing Cordelia. Opening night was rapidly approaching, and life was returning to normal.

Until the water stopped working, that is. Mom had to wash Luke's hair out, which was hilarious. However, I still needed to shower.

"Beth," Keith said in surprise as he opened his front door.

"Hi Uncle Keith," I said using my best upbeat tone.

"Heard the shower broke," he said, stepping aside.

"Can I please use yours?" I begged.

He grinned and I quickly rushed to the bathroom, relieved to be properly clean once more.

"Want to stay for dinner before Luke's game?" he offered when I came out.

"Sure," I said, quickly calling Mom and letting her know I'd meet her at the game.

"Pizza?" he suggested and I agreed. He ordered without having to ask what I wanted, and we settled in front of the TV.

"So how goes the Shakespeare?" he asked.

"Took me so long to get used to the dialogue," I said. "But it's kind of beautiful, even if I end up dying."

"Spoiler alert," he teased me. I often yelled that if anyone revealed something about a film I hadn't seen.

"Very funny," I poked my tongue out at him.

"So how you doing with everything?" he asked.

I sighed. "I'm trying a very Zen approach."

He struggled to keep a straight face. "I see."

"They leave me alone for the most part," I said. "Because I'm no threat to Nathan, I guess. But I just hate how they treat Luke."

"Luke said the hazing's stopped?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but I don't know how long it'll last," I said. "Nathan's probably up to something."

"Or maybe he's growing up a little bit," he said and I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, probably not. Want a soda?"

"Coke, please," I requested and he got up and got it. "How's the garage going?"

"The books miss you," he grinned.

"Well once the play is done, I'll get back on top of them," I promised. I had been a bit busy, but had kept them fairly in order. They just needed a little catch up.

"I do too, Beth," he said. "I'm glad you dropped by. So what's going on?"

I couldn't help but beam. I told Keith all about how Skills and I had become an unbeatable team (until Luke played, he usually beat me), and we chatted about the River Court and the boys until the pizza arrived. It was always easy with Keith, and I arrived at the basketball game in a great mood.

Mom had already arrived and waved us over. We cheered loudly as Lucas finally got passed the ball and made a basket, and being here finally felt like fun, like it should have all along.

As we were waiting for Luke, I noticed Clay Evans clap Nathan on the back and head for the showers. He looked at me and gave a slight smile. I hadn't noticed him in the past few weeks, I had been too busy to focus on anything other than the play, coming to Luke's games and my friends. I had thought I had imagined him looking at me that night of the one on one. I shook it off as Luke arrived.

"You did awesome, Luke," I said proudly.

"You did great," Keith said. "I'll catch you guys later."

We all said goodbye and Mom turned to Luke. "So, are you excited?"

"Why, because we won?" he asked.

"No, because there's running water in the locker room," Mom said with a grin. "We're gonna be roughing it until tomorrow."

Luke laughed. "It's okay."

"You should just do what I do," I said. "Show up at Keith's. He'll take one whiff and demand you take a shower."

Mom and Luke laughed. Mom noticed she left something where we had sat and went up to get it. Our smiles faded as Nathan approached us.

"Two decent games in a row, man," Nathan said. "Getting better, or just lucky?"

I desperately wanted to make a retort, but remembering my Zen approach, I remained quiet.

"The team's gonna party tonight, my parents' beach house," Nathan continued.

"Why are you telling me that?" Luke asked.

"I said the team, didn't I?" Nathan answered, surprising me. Were they really done with all that hazing crap? "Look, it's gonna be a long season, alright?" Nathan looked at me, and said, "You can come too, if you want."

He walked away, leaving Luke and I staring after him. "I do not trust him at all," I said flatly.

"Yeah," Luke agreed. "But we still have to go."

"Wait, what?"

* * *

"The guy's kidnapped you, trashed your court, threatened you with bodily harm," Haley said from the front seat. "Party? Yeah, sure, why not?"

"My point exactly," I interrupted, putting my head in between them from the backseat.

"Listen, I know it's all a setup, all right?" Luke said as he drove. "But I'm not gonna let him screw with me," he glanced back at me. "You shouldn't either."

"This isn't healthy to the Zen approach, Lucas," I informed him.

"Whatever he dishes out he's going to get back double," Luke said.

"Definitely not Zen," Haley agreed, and then paused. "Do you think maybe…" she said carefully. "Just maybe, he's had a change of heart?"

Luke and I stared at her disbelievingly.

"Requires a heart," Luke said, and I couldn't help but agree. I had argued the whole way home with Luke, but he was determined to go and because I didn't trust Nathan, I decided to go so I'd have his back.

We arrived outside Nathan's beach house and my mouth dropped. It looked huge and it was their _beach house._

"I wasn't sure you'd come," Nathan greeted us. Tim and Clay were hanging nearby. Clay was staring again. Brooke and Peyton were watching as well.

"Makes two of us," Luke said, walking past him. Haley and I went to follow, when Nathan suddenly held his hand out to Haley. I narrowed my eyes at him, warning him to back off.

"Hi, I'm Nathan Scott," he introduced himself, shaking her hand.

"Yeah, I know, I'm Haley," she said.

"I know," he said, with a hint of flirtation. I didn't like this at all. I linked my arm through Haley's.

"And I'm Beth," I interrupted. "Come on, Hales."

Haley whistled as we walked inside. "Bet their plumbing works."

I laughed bitterly. "Yeah, even their _beach house_ would have decent plumbing."

"Zen," Luke reminded me.

I scowled at him and walked off. I wanted a drink but remembering my last attempt and that Mom had left me off the hook (even if it was with a grounding), I decided I was better off.

I wandered around for a while, but couldn't really find anyone to talk to. I located Lucas, bizarrely enough, in the middle of a game of I Never with Nathan, Peyton, Brooke, Theresa, Tim, Clay and Vegas. Apparently it was Nathan's turn.

"I've never had a dad who wished I was a stain on the bed sheets," Nathan said, and my stomach dropped. Tim laughed but most of the group looked uncomfortable. What was wrong with him?

"Nate," Clay said warningly, but he was ignored.

Luke put his drink in front of Nathan. "Well you're welcome to mine."

Luke saw me standing there but just walked away. The group seemed to notice me at the same time. I glared at them and walked away, hoping to find Haley. Maybe she could convince Lucas it was time to leave. What was he trying to prove by staying?

I came around the corner to hear Haley and Peyton talking.

"You're tutoring Nathan, right?" Peyton said and I could feel myself flush red with anger. "It's okay. He tells me everything."

"Yeah, he said he needed some help," Haley said. So she just helped him? With all the stuff he said about Lucas and me? All the stuff he had actually done to Lucas?

"Maybe you could teach him to stop being such a jackass," Peyton said. I snorted, like that was possible.

"I will put that on the lesson plan," Haley laughed uncomfortably.

"Just be careful, okay?" Peyton warned.

"Yeah," I said, revealing my presence. "You never know who might be stabbing you in the back."

"Beth!" Haley exclaimed, and Peyton excused herself to go into the bathroom.

"I cannot believe you," I hissed. "Do you not hear the way he speaks to Luke, to me?"

"Have you ever actually talked to him?"

I looked at her in shock. "Yeah, when he said earlier that he's never had a dad who wished he was a stain on the sheets, I laughed and said, 'hey, good one, Nate!'" I glared at her. "How can you give him the benefit of the doubt when all he does is…"

"Beth…" she said, looking upset, but I pulled away from her.

"Don't," I snapped. "Just tell me when Lucas has made whatever point he's trying to make and we can leave."

I sat on the couch, feeling mostly invisible but strangely I was okay with it. I didn't really want to talk to any of these people anyway. Even though the group of them playing I Never had seemed uncomfortable, none of them had stood up to Nathan for his cruel comment.

All of a sudden Nathan was hunting around the cabinet beneath the TV, and put on a video he found. He hadn't noticed my presence right near him. I stood abruptly when I saw what it was. Clay muttered something to him but was ignored.

"Snow King and Queen, Daniel Scott and Karen Roe," a lady on the video said. It was a high school video of my parents. "Karen, what's the secret to your success?"

Luke came in from outside, his eyes stuck to the screen.

Mom looked so young, so happy. She had no idea how the man beside her would betray her when she was carrying his children. "Um, the secret to our success? I don't know, good question. Dan?"

"Good sex," Dan said arrogantly and I felt sick as the crowd laughed.

"Karen, do you think you guys will get married?"

"Do I think Dan and I will get married? Who knows? I mean…"

"Oh my God, the hair," Brooke laughed and I felt like I was in another universe. These people were just… they didn't care at all about who they hurt.

"He really is the sweetest guy in the whole world," the high school version of my mother beamed. My heart was breaking just watching how happy she was. "So I'm thinking, yes. Come visit us in ten years and I bet you can meet the kids and get a tour of our big house and see how happy we are."

I turned to Lucas and saw the tears forming in his eyes. If there was ever someone who didn't deserve all this, it was Mom.

"Who's the girl?" Vegas asked.

"It's my mom," Luke said softly.

"At least her dreams came true for one of them," Nathan said arrogantly. It was beyond cruel what he was doing.

"Except for the happy part, right?" Luke said, and shoved Nathan hard as he left the room.

To hell with Zen. Tim and Nathan were laughing when I walked up and slapped him across the face, as hard as I could.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked as the room gasped. "Do you think my mother deserved that? What the hell has she done to you? What have _I _done? I get it with Luke; you're insecure and pathetic about him being on the team. But seriously, get the fuck over it and grow up."

I stormed out of the now silent room, and was shocked when Nathan grabbed my arm, his fury written all over his face. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"Let me go," I snapped.

"You're the one who's pathetic," he said. "You and your brother. Did you think you could come here and we could all play at being siblings? Still hoping Daddy will come around?"

I wanted to spit in his face. "You can keep Dan," I said angrily. "And you are not my brother. You're just the asshole who can't get over his daddy's mistakes."

Clay appeared. "Let her go, Nate," he said quietly, and I was surprised by the anger in his tone. Nathan didn't budge, staring me down. I furiously stared back at him, refusing to be the first to look away. "Nathan! Let her go!" he yelled, and Nathan abruptly dropped my arm, disappearing into the next room looking ready to punch someone.

"You okay?"

I ignored him and ran outside, desperately needing to get away from these people.

I stood on the beach a little ways down from the beach house, trying to calm down after that humiliation. Bringing Mom into this was totally out of line. I couldn't help but smirk at the thought of the slap I'd given Nathan though. So much for Zen.

"Hey, Beth!" a voice called.

I jumped and turned to see Clay Evans walking towards me. I had ignored him before, I didn't know why he was here now. I turned away from him, giving the hint to leave me alone. Sadly, he wouldn't take it.

"Nate was really out of line tonight,' he said, and I frowned that I had had the exact thought moments earlier.

"Just tonight?" I said dully. "Not with the hazing, not with referring to me and Lucas as bastard spawn? Just tonight?"

Clay had the decency to look a bit ashamed. "His dad…" he stopped abruptly, remembering that Dan Scott had fathered me as well.

"Yeah, _his_ dad. The one who wishes we were a stain on the sheet," I scoffed. "Why are you talking to me?"

"You looked like you could use a friend."

There was a sincerity to him that I didn't like or trust.

"I have friends," I informed him. "Just… not here. And it's not like you and I could ever be friends."

"Why? Because of Nate?"

"Well, yeah," I said bluntly. He was confusing. Why would one of the most popular guys in school, best friends with the brother who hates me, want to be my friend? "Is that why you're talking to me? Hoping I'll crack and tell you all my deep, dark secrets and you can all laugh about them?"

He looked a little hurt. "I'm not Nathan, Beth."

That surprised me. He didn't say anything I expected him to.

"You were there when he did both of his jackass moves to Lucas and me tonight," I said. "The only time you said anything is when he looked like he was about to hit me. I didn't need you to swoop in and save me."

"Isn't that why you're here?" he asked. "To try and save Lucas?"

I frowned. I didn't like how well he was reading me.

"You're all the same," I said. "That video… all everyone could do was laugh at my mom. Oh, poor Karen. Who cares that Dan Scott left her alone and pregnant, when the great Nathan Scott was clearly the prize?"

"He's been out of line with a lot of stuff for a long time," Clay said quietly. "But I'm only just starting to see it. But I mean it, you know. I'm not like him."

"Prove it," I said, heading up to the house. I had to find Luke because I was more than ready to go home. That was, until I found out from a random drunk chick that he had already left.

"Need a ride?" Clay offered, having followed me from the beach. At my look, he added, "I have to prove it, right?"

I accepted the ride reluctantly, already wondering how long it would be before I regretted it. He hadn't been drinking, and he was probably the only friendly person at this party who wasn't. We got into his very nice, very expensive car and I told him to take me to my mom's cafe. I really wanted to talk to her. We rode in silence for a bit before I couldn't help but ask him,

"Why do you want to prove anything to me?" I was genuinely curious. I hadn't exactly been my most friendly towards him.

"I don't know," he said thoughtfully. "Maybe it's not just about proving it to you."

"Proving it to yourself?"

He shrugged, clearly embarrassed. "I haven't been that different from Nate. But I'm trying to be."

Against my better instincts, I found myself intrigued by this boy.

"Do or do not," I murmured, unable to help myself. "There is no 'try'."

"You know I wouldn't have pegged you as a Star Wars fan," Clay said, a smile lighting up his face.

I grinned. "You kidding? That's a classic."

"Very true," he agreed as we pulled up outside the café. I was relieved to see Mom was still there.

"Thanks for the ride," I said, and spontaneously added, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"Casablanca," Clay said without missing a beat. Then he sent that smile of his my way. "I think you're right though. Could be a beautiful friendship."

I couldn't help but laugh as I got out. I didn't trust him, but that he was trying to be different… maybe it was a load of crap. Or maybe there was more to Clay Evans than being the womanising best friend of Nathan Scott.

"Hey, who was that?" Mom asked, as Clay drove off.

"My ride home," I said, not wanting to explain that Nathan's best friend had dropped me off.

"I take it from your face the party wasn't what you were expecting?" she said as I sat at the counter.

"More like exactly what I expected," I said with a sigh. I looked at Mom. I knew she was happy with her life, and her decision to have me and Luke. But I couldn't help but feel guilty like we were the ones who had ruined it all for her. "Nathan was just… Nathan."

"I'm sorry," she said sympathetically.

"It was Luke's stupid idea," I shrugged. I paused, resting my chin on my hand. "Not feeling very Zen."

"Would a biscotti help with that?" Mom suggested.

"It really would," I pouted dramatically, my expression brightening when she gave me a piece.

"Thanks, Mom," I said, kissing her cheek. As I started to eat, she called the plumber trying to sort out the water situation.

"I'm trying to have my pipes replaced, I don't want to send your kids to college," Mom said, sounding annoyed. "Fine, I'll do it myself."

She hung up and pulled out a book on plumbing.

"Mom…" I said skeptically. "At least bribe Keith with a free meal to come and do this."

"I can do this," she said stubbornly, though I saw the look of apprehension on her face as she flicked through the book. I thought of that damn beach house and wondered how massive and expensive their house was. Haley was right, bet they had working plumbing. I bet Nathan's mother didn't have to try and learn how to plumb because she couldn't afford a plumber.

The bell jingled as someone walked into the café.

"I'm sorry, we're just closing," Mom said as I turned around and recognised Deb Scott, Nathan's mother.

"What are you doing here?" I said coldly.

"Beth," Mom warned me.

"I was hoping to get a coffee," Deb said awkwardly. "To go."

Mom went to the machine and Deb stood beside me as her coffee was being prepared.

"Anything else?" Mom sounded just as thrilled as I was to see Deb on what I considered to be our turf.

"A biscotti?" she said, noticing the bit I had left on my own plate. My eyes narrowed. I didn't want anything in common with this woman who had produced the ass known as Nathan.

Mom got it out, and the awkward silence continued. "$3.20," Mom said, and Deb handed the money over. I sent Mom a bewildered look as Deb walked out. I didn't understand what this was supposed to be.

"Hey!" Mom called after Deb, who stopped and turned. "You tell Dan that if he wants to spy on me or threaten me, or whatever the hell is, he can come down and do it himself." I had never heard Mom so cold before.

"Dan didn't send me," Deb admitted. "I came on my own."

"So it's a coincidence?" Mom scoffed.

"No," Deb explained. "I wanted you to know everything that happened between you and Dan, I don't carry that weight around and I don't care to."

Her son had no problem showing everyone the weight of my mother's pain around, however.

"Frankly, it looks to me like you've done a wonderful job raising Lucas and Beth," Deb continued as my mother and I stared at her, waiting for the other shoe to drop. "I've seen the three of you together and quite honestly it makes me a bit jealous. Our two families, it's really awkward."

"Can't imagine why that would be," I muttered, and Mom sent me a warning look.

"I'm not deluded enough to believe otherwise," Deb said softly, giving me a look of sympathy that I really didn't care for. "I know how it is with you both and Dan and the two boys. There's a lot of history there. But it doesn't have to be our history." With a small smile, she left.

"It's not just history," I burst out. "It's what Nathan says and does right now that's the problem!"

"Beth!" Mom said, surprised by how angry I was. "What happened at that party?"

"You can't trust her, Mom!" I exclaimed.

"Okay, calm down," she said sternly and I slowly settled back into my seat. "I don't know what that was, honestly. But it's not like I'm about to become best friends with Deb Scott of all people, okay?"

I nodded. "Sorry," I said quietly. "I'll be here, working on my Zen."

* * *

I helped Mom close up and we headed home in a thoughtful silence.

Lucas was in the kitchen, scratching at the kitchen table. I walked over to him and punched him in the arm.

"Thanks for leaving the party without me, Lucas." I said with annoyance.

He looked at me in dawning realisation. He'd forgotten about me. "Sorry, I…"

"You know, not everything just affects you," I said. "You're not the only one he's aiming for."

Mom walked in, sensing the tension and saw Luke was scratching at the table.

"You would not believe the night I had," Mom said.

"Yeah, me too," Luke said bitterly.

"What happened?" she asked, and neither of us responded. "Okay, well turns out fixing the water main is not a big deal. I just have to pick up a pipe at the hardware store in the morning. If you both help me dig out where the break is I think we can fix this ourselves."

"So now I'm digging ditches?" I rolled my eyes at Lucas and went to walk out.

"Beth, sit," Mom instructed. I reluctantly sat down. "Would one of you tell me what happened?"

"Did you know you could fit this whole house into the living room of their place at the beach?" Luke said.

"So why did you even go there?" she asked us both.

"Because someone had to have Luke's back," I said.

"Haley was there," Luke muttered.

"I wouldn't be too sure of her having your back," I replied. "How about next time, you have my back Lucas?"

"I said I was sorry," he said angrily.

"Sorry about what?" Mom asked, bewildered. "What happened at this party?"

"Nathan was being Nathan, Mom," I said, suddenly tired. I didn't want to talk about this anymore. I didn't want to think about it.

"You could just walk away," Mom advised us. "You don't need to put up with that."

"Like you did?" Luke said bitterly.

"Excuse me?" Mom said warningly.

"You never told us you had this whole thing mapped out with Dan," Luke said angrily. "That you even ever talked about marriage before you were pregnant with me and Beth. All you ever said is that he found out and he took off."

I was surprised by his anger at Mom of all people. I had felt so bad for her, and he'd just been bad she hadn't told us everything?

"Where did you hear this?" Mom asked.

"Those guys, Nathan and his ass of a father, can do whatever they want and they screw everyone else in the process!" Luke yelled. "And what we all stand by and let them? You should have made him give us what we were entitled to so we didn't have to live like this! You should've made him pay."

"What was she supposed to do, Lucas?" I yelled right back at him. "You know what, be mad at Dan, be mad at Nathan. They sure as hell deserve it. Mom not telling us that they talked about marriage? How do you think it felt for her? _We're_ the reason none of that happened, Lucas, so if she didn't want to tell us she didn't have to!"

I went into my bedroom and slammed the door behind me. She didn't deserve this. None of us did. And Deb Scott, walking in like she suddenly wanted to be friends? Like we were all going to become one happy family? I didn't know what her game was, just like I didn't understand Haley going behind our backs to help Nathan.

And I really didn't understand Clay. All I knew was that based on all these people that came from his world, I couldn't trust him.

* * *

I got up early and sat at a bench by the River Court, reading lines until the inevitable boy came down and wanted to play basketball. However, it was Haley who appeared.

"Hey," she said.

"Looking for me or for Luke?" I asked.

"You," she said. "Have you told Luke?"

"Not yet," I said. "Mainly because we got into a fight last night,"

"Oh," she said. "Look, I'm doing this for Lucas."

"You are?" I said disbelievingly, then realised. "It's why the hazing stopped, isn't it?"

"Yeah," she said softly.

I sighed. "Sorry I went off at you," I said sincerely. "I should have known you wouldn't stab us in the back. I had a lot of pent up anger."

"Maybe Zen's not for you then?" she said, nudging me with her shoulder.

"Maybe," I smiled, glad to have made up. "I won't say anything to Luke."

"Oh, he knows," she said with an unamused laugh. "He's just as impressed as you were."

"Just tell him what you told me," I said, trying to cheer her up. "It's for him, right?"

"Right," Haley said quietly. "It's for him."


	5. To Be Or Not To Be

**To Be Or Not To Be**

I stood on stage as the loving daughter Cordelia. I had noticed Mom, Luke, Keith, Haley and Skills in the front row, and that had soothed away any nerves I might have had prior to stepping on that stage.

"What shall Cordelia speak? Love, and be silent," I said my first line of the night, putting aside thoughts of my family and friends and allowing myself to be sucked into the world of King Lear.

"Beth! You were great," Mom said proudly, giving me a hug.

"You did Shakespeare proud," Luke said with a grin.

I beamed as everyone complimented me on my performance.

"You died really well," Keith said with a wink, referring to when I had 'spoiled' the play for him and told him I was going to die.

"Thanks, Keith," I laughed.

"Look, you were awesome," Skills said. "But what the hell happened to the bikini scene?"

"Oh, I told Mouth to tell you that so you'd show up and pay attention," I said offhandedly as Haley gave me a high five for my performance.

"Say what?" Skills said, aghast.

"It was Shakespeare," I laughed.

"It could have been a modern interpretation," Skills said defensively, cracking me up. "You were great as always though. Gonna miss you when you head to Hollywood."

The group went to wait outside for me so I could go and get changed. I went to head backstage to the dressing room when I was approached by Clay.

"You were amazing," he said genuinely.

"You came to see the play?" I said incredulously. I couldn't imagine somewhere that was less his scene.

"Just thought I'd try something new," he shrugged. "Though I was a little disappointed by the lack of bikinis, I'll admit."

I grinned. He must have overheard my conversation with Skills. "I'm glad you liked it," I said.

There was a moment of silence as I tried to figure out his motives.

"Well, I better go," he said. "I just wanted to let you know I thought you were awesome."

"Thanks," I said, inexplicably blushing. He gave me a smile that made me stomach jolt and walked away. I got changed with a beaming smile, joking around with the rest of the cast as I headed outside to meet up with my friends and family.

"There's the star of the night," Keith said, putting his arm around my shoulders. "Ready to celebrate, kiddo?"

"Can't wait," I said happily. We were heading out to dinner, which was rare when your mom owned a café. Her food was addictive, but still. Mom and Keith got into Keith's car and I hopped in to Mom's car that Luke was driving, sitting in the backseat with Skills while Haley got shotgun.

"So," Skills said quietly. "I noticed Clay Evans was here tonight."

"Yeah, me too," I said, acting as if it wasn't a big deal.

"And I saw him talking to you," he continued.

"He let me know he liked my performance," I said, a little defensively.

"Just be careful, Beth," he said seriously.

I smiled. "He was just being friendly, Skills," I said. "Don't worry, I'll keep my guard up around anyone that calls Nathan a friend."

"Good," he nodded, and I felt the smile slide off my face as he looked away. I needed to keep reminding myself where Clay's loyalties truly lied. And it wasn't with his best friend's illegitimate half-sister.

* * *

I headed into the café on the hunt for some of my mother's pancakes. I gave Haley a wave as she waited a table, taking a seat next to my brother at the counter.

"Hey, Luke," I said. "Hey, Mom!" I called.

"Yes, Beth?" she asked, in that way only mothers can when they know a favour is coming.

"Can I have some pancakes?"

"Chocolate chip?" she said with a smile.

"You're the best," I grinned. I turned to Luke, who was reading a newspaper article with a scowl on his face. "What's up with you?"

He gave me the paper and I frowned as I saw what the article was about. "Who would've known Dan Scott's basketball pedigree would be inherited by his two sons, Nathan and Lucas Scott?" I put the paper down. "Thank God I'm not in there." I said, trying to make light of it.

"Lucky you," Luke said, getting up.

"Come on, Luke," I called after him, but he was already gone.

"What was that all about?" Mom asked, and I handed her the paper.

It took only a moment for her to mutter, "Oh boy."

* * *

I had been alternating between homework and the garage's books that afternoon and realised with a groan later that night I had left a textbook on Keith's desk. Thankfully, Keith was still there working late when I arrived.

"Hey," Keith greeted me, looking tense. "You looking for Luke?"

"My textbook actually," I said, grabbing it off his desk. "Why, is Luke here?"

"You just missed him," Keith said, wiping his hands on a rag.

"Yeah, that's fine with me," I said. "He's really worked up over that stupid article, and with the father-son game coming up… he's a joy to be around."

"He asked me to play with him in the game," Keith said, his face brightening.

I grinned. "You're a lot better dad than Dan," I said. "But isn't that good news?"

"Yeah, it is," Keith nodded, and I could tell that my comment about him being a good dad meant a lot to him.

"Then why did you look so worked up when I got here?"

He frowned. "Dan was here."

"What did he say to Luke?" I sighed. That man clearly wasn't happy with his son humiliating us, he had to inflict his own pain as well.

"Some stupidity about Luke owing something to the family name," he answered. "And that you both didn't deserve the Scott name to begin with. So then Luke said he wants to change his last name to Roe."

Wow, the hits kept on coming, didn't they? I clenched my hands tightly around my textbook. Would life be any easier as a Roe than it was as a Scott in this town?

"Dan is wrong, Beth," Keith said. "You and Luke deserve the name Scott just as much as Nathan does, as I do."

"I better go," I said quickly. "I have a lot of homework to do…"

"Wait, Beth," he called as I rushed out.

"I'll see you later, Keith," I said. I had to talk to Luke.

* * *

"Come in," Luke called. I opened his door and walked in, taking a seat at his desk.

"Keith told me what Dan said," I said, getting straight to the point. "And he told me you want to become a Roe."

Luke sighed. "I don't want people to read these stupid articles and think I play ball just because Dan did," he said. "I don't want Dan thinking I owe anything to him or his damn name."

"Nobody believes we owe Dan a thing," I said. "But… I know what you mean. I thought about it on the way over. Do you think anything would change in this town if we were Lucas and Beth Roe instead of Scott?"

He gave me a look of surprise. "You're thinking of changing your last name?"

"I don't know," I said honestly. "I can see why you want to. But a part of me thinks it's just what Dan wants. He wants us to be hidden from public view because he sees us as a mistake. I think the bigger thing we need to think about is if we weren't Scotts anymore – is it for him or is it for us?"

The following morning I headed to the River Court, hoping to clear my mind a little from all the name change drama.

Skills was already there, dribbling a basketball around the court.

"Watch this," he called, dunking the ball.

"Impressive," I grinned.

He held his hands out, looking impressed with himself. "You wanna play?"

"Yeah," I said, and we played for an hour or so, our only conversation when we wanted to rub it in to the other when we scored.

"All that dunkin' played off, huh?" he said, grinning at me as we sat down on a bench. He had managed to beat me by one basket. I laughed. "So, you gonna tell me what's got you so down?"

I couldn't hide much from Skills. I explained Luke's want to change from Scott to Roe.

"What about you?"

"I don't know," I said thoughtfully. "As much as it would be nice to get rid of that last association with Dan…"

"It won't erase the fact that he's your dad?" Skills said knowingly, and I nodded. "You talked to your mom about all this?"

"No, but I probably should," I said, getting up. "Catch you later?"

"Sure thing," he said, passing me the ball. "Maybe you can get some practice in for next time?"

I threw the ball at him, which he easily caught. "Shut up," I laughed.

* * *

I sat at my usual spot at the counter, smiling at Mom as she came out of the kitchen.

"I'm glad you're here," she said. "I was just talking to your brother about this name changing business. Heard you were considering it, too?"

"At first it was more out of solidarity with Luke," I admitted. "I don't want to have a different surname to my twin brother, you know? But then, I like the thought of being separate from Dan."

"Everyone knows who your father is," Mom said gently. "Do you think it will change that if you become a Roe?"

"I thought you'd like it if we all had the same last name," I said, a little annoyed. "Why did you even give us the name Scott in the first place?"

Mom paused for a moment.

"Well, you know Dan chose the basketball scholarship," Mom said. "But then something strange happened. Right before classes started, Dan changed his mind. He said he'd finish the semester and we'd get married."

A flash of my mom on that video flashed into my mind. How happy she had been with Dan, how hopeful she was. Of course she would have believed him when he had said he'd had a change of heart.

"So when I went into labour and you and your brother appeared, the nurse asked for your last name and I said it was Scott," she said. "Keith was there, and when the nurse brought you and Lucas in, he didn't know which of you to hold first. Lucas was crying, so I took him and Keith held you. I've known Keith my whole life, and that's the only time I've seen him cry."

"You don't need to sell me on Keith, Mom," I murmured.

"I know," she said. "But your father never showed up. I just wanted to remind you that Keith's a Scott too, you know? If you want to change your name, you have my blessing. But…"

"You don't think we should change it?" I said.

"It's not up to me," she said gently. "Just have a think about it, would you?"

I nodded and she went to go take a customer's order. I decided to go over Mom's books for the café, and then head to Keith's and do the same thing. I needed something that made some sense.

"Hey Keith," I greeted as I walked into the garage.

"Hey," he grinned. "Here to look over the books?"

"Yeah," I said, heading over to his desk. I put my head down and worked hard, finishing quicker than I would have liked. With a sigh, I closed the notebook and started to grab my stuff as Dan walked in.

"Great," I muttered quietly. Why was I always back here when he showed up?

"Twice in one week, that's gotta be some kind of record," Keith noted. Dan had openly disapproved of Keith standing by Mom, Luke and me, so their relationship was definitely not a close one.

"Yeah, it's this father-son thing," Dan said to my surprise.

"How about a frosty?" Keith suggested.

"I'm in training," Dan said, and I sniggered quietly.

Keith scoffed. "It's just a game, Dan."

"No, it's a public event," Dan corrected him. "I mean, what are people gonna think, especially after that article?"

"Yeah, about that, what in the hell's wrong with you telling Lucas he and Beth never deserved the name Scott?" Keith said angrily.

"Well, they don't," Dan said, as if it were obvious. I bit down on my lip, longing to yell at Dan for making Luke and I question our own names like this. But I really wanted to hear why he had said what he had said, so I kept my presence quiet.

"The hell they don't!" Keith yelled. "You fathered them, Dan."

"That's right, which brings me to my original point," Dan said. "What do you think you're doing playing in the basketball game? I mean, whatever you think you are to Karen and her kids, you're not a husband, or a father."

Unable to keep my silence when he was offending Keith like that, I snapped, "He's a much better father to us than you've ever been."

"Ah, Beth," he said. "Still lurking in the shadows?"

I had a feeling he meant more than me lingering behind Keith's desk eavesdropping. Maybe because I wasn't in the centre of attention like the two Scott sons playing basketball.

"Beth, I can handle this," Keith said, turning back to Dan. I stood beside my uncle, arms folded.

"Come on, big brother," Dan said.

"That's right, _big brother_," Keith said. "No matter what you did on the basketball court a lifetime ago, no matter what you do now, I'll always be your big brother. So guess what Danny boy? It was my name first, it's Lucas and Beth's name now. And there's nothing you can do about it."

"Okay, Keith," Dan said, sounding mildly amused.

"Look, you can be ashamed of me," Keith said. "And you can be ashamed of Lucas and Beth. But what makes you think we're not just as ashamed of you? Now get out of my shop."

Dan left without a word, glancing at me as I glared him down. Once he was gone, I launched myself at Keith and hugged him tightly.

"I don't know how you do it," I said, pulling back.

"Do what? Once you get into the books you're so quiet I forget you're there, and then you have to hear what Dan says," Keith said, sounding apologetic.

"I don't know how you manage to say exactly the right thing," I corrected him. "Because I'm so ashamed of him, you know? And I think you just made the decision for me about my last name."

"You wanna change it?" he said, sounding disappointed.

"No, I'm gonna keep it," I said with a smile. "Because _you_ had it first."

Keith beamed at me.

"Plus," I added. "It really pisses him off that our last name's Scott, and I just can't resist that."

Keith let out a laugh. "So that Zen thing you had going?"

"Yeah, not really working for me," I laughed.

* * *

I made my way through the crowded bleachers for the father-son game.

"Hey," Haley greeted as I took a seat beside her.

"Hey," I replied, putting my bag down. The team was on the court and warming up.

"Luke!" Haley called. I frowned when he kept practicing, we were sitting right by him. "Lucas! Hey, Scott!"

Both Nathan and Luke looked over to her.

"Awkward," I muttered. I then noticed the none too happy expression on Luke's face. Haley's smile faded. "Are you guys in a fight?"

"If we are it's news to me," she said, looking confused. Nathan and Dan were introduced as the captains of their respective teams and I crossed my arms as the crowd cheered at Dan's name.

Mom arrived and took a seat beside me as the game started and the three of us cheered for the Ravens. Most of the dads, including Keith, were good naturedly ribbing their sons and enjoying the game. The only clear stand outs were Dan and, to my surprise, Clay's father.

Clay's dad seemed only half-heartedly interested in playing at all. Normally during a basketball game, you couldn't wipe the smile off Clay's face. Not that I'd ever noticed his expression while playing or anything. Not any more than a normal spectator. In this father-son game, however, Clay looked so disappointed.

Dan was taking it so seriously it was ridiculous. The Ravens had a thirty point lead, but the score was reset to give the dads a chance and the next basket was set to win. So when Nathan went to make a shot, Dan slammed him to the floor. My hand flew to my mouth. I thought Nathan was the kid of his that he actually liked?

I couldn't help but smile at Lucas when he helped Nathan up. As much as I had against Nathan, he didn't deserve to be shoved like that by a man who clearly couldn't let the game go. My jaw dropped as Nathan stood aside and let Dan win the game. I reluctantly admired him for that, refusing to give his best game to Dan.

"So did you find out why Luke was mad at you?" I asked Haley quietly so Mom wouldn't overhear.

"He saw me hug Nathan, which was as congratulations for a test score," she said, irritated. "If you heard Lucas, I may as well have made out with him."

I wasn't sure what Haley's feelings for Nathan were. But I was sure that this wasn't the place to ask her. "He'll get over it," I said.

"Hope so," she said.

"You coming with me, Beth?" Mom asked.

"I might go talk to Luke," I said. "Let him know I'm going to stay Beth Scott."

"I'm glad," she smiled, rubbing my shoulder affectionately. "I'll see you at home."

I waited outside the locker room for Luke. Nathan glanced at me as he walked past but miraculously didn't make a comment.

"Hey," Luke said.

"Hey," I said. "Good game."

"We lost," he said with a laugh.

"Yeah," I said thoughtfully. "Who'd have thought we'd be the lucky ones to be without a dad, huh? So I've been thinking about this whole last name thing."

"Me too," he said. "What do you think?"

"I'm not changing it," I said a little nervously, hoping he'd come to the same conclusion I had. "Mainly because of Keith, actually…"

"Yeah, me too," he said, looking at me in surprise. I grinned, knowing I didn't have to explain any further.

"Do you think it's our twin powers coming into effect?" I asked.

"Maybe," he said with a laugh. "They were bound to come in at some point, right?"

We walked out of the gym together to see Nathan and Peyton talking. They had been the talk of the school for the past week since they had broken up. Luke paused as Peyton turned to him, and they shared an intense stare. Finally, Peyton walked away, leaving Nathan and Lucas staring after her.

"You can do better," I muttered.

"Beth," he said warningly, which told me more than anything how much he liked this girl.

"I'll catch you later," I sighed.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"For a walk."

I headed to the River Court, hoping to find one of the boys there. Fergie and Junk were finishing up a game as I arrived.

"How was the game?" Junk asked.

"Entertaining as always," I said drily. "Fergie win?"

"You know it," he said smugly as Junk scowled. "Play you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I said. "Can I borrow your ball for the night?"

"Sure," Junk said, handing it over. "Later, Beth."

"Bye, guys," I smiled. I dribbled the ball across the court, shooting it through the hoop. Just as I retrieved it, there was the sound of clapping behind me.

"Shakespeare and basketball?" Clay said, sounding impressed.

"Good way to clear my mind," I shrugged. It was weird, Clay being on the River Court. I was so used to just my group of friends being here.

"Wanna play?" he offered.

"Looking for a game to win?" I teased.

"You were there tonight?" he said, a small smile on his face.

"Had to support Luke and Keith," I said.

"They were on opposite teams," he reminded me with a laugh.

"Meh," I shrugged. "But I could use a game." I shot the ball from the three point line and it went through the hoop effortlessly. Clay's eyes widened.

"Just a way to clear your mind?" he said incredulously.

I laughed and threw him the ball. It was strangely easy with Clay, messing around on the court like we were friends or something. Clay managed to win, but barely. We collapsed onto the bench, laughing.

"You're good," he said, sounding surprised.

"Not as good as you, clearly," I said, throwing off the compliment. We fell into an oddly comfortable silence.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. I waited for his reason, knowing it would have something to do with Nathan. "For trashing the court."

"That was a fun time to clean up," I said.

"You're not mad?" he said in surprise.

"I'm not thrilled," I said honestly. "But I kind of already figured you would have been a part of it."

"I don't do stuff like that anymore," he said. "And Nathan's easing up a little too. Not that you'd care, I guess. It's pretty messed up how he's treated you and Lucas."

"You don't have to say that," I said quietly, not quite believing he really meant this. I just didn't get _why _he would say it, why he would turn up to see me perform Shakespeare, why he would show up at the River Court and want to play basketball with me.

"I know I don't," he said genuinely. "But it's true."

I smiled slightly at him. "So did you have fun with your dad?"

He sighed. "He didn't want to come. I should have just let him bail."

"He doesn't like basketball?"

"He doesn't like anything that is outside of his job," he said. "But I really don't want to talk about him, if that's okay."

"Sure," I said easily. I didn't exactly want to talk about my own father, either. I stood up. "I better get going…"

"You come to most games, right?" he said, rising to his feet.

"Uh, yeah," I said, surprised he'd noticed. "Why?"

"We have our first out of town game next week," he said quickly. To my surprise, I realised he was nervous. "You should come."

"I'll think about it," I smiled, trying not to show how affected I was that he had asked. "See you later, Clay."

I had been intrigued by Clay when he said he wanted to be different. I started to take notice when he had appeared in the audience of my play. And now he wanted me to come to a game?

Nothing could ever happen between us. Nothing real. And people got crushes all the time. So, why, I wondered, was I so nervous?


	6. Road Trip

**Road Trip**

Luke had his bag open on the kitchen bench as I approached, looking intently at a CD. I swiped it out of his hands and had a look.

"P.S. Whatever," I read the title. "What's this?"

"Peyton made me a mix for the bus ride," he said, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Oh, Peyton, hey?" I nudged him. He gave me a look. "Does that mean you're dating?" I teased.

"Very funny," he deadpanned.

"Just let me know what colour my bridesmaid's dress is going to be," I teased.

Ironically, Mom chose that moment to come out holding two different dresses.

"What does this dress say to you?" she asked us, holding the red dress up to her.

"Uh, beware of crazy ladies who talk to dresses?" Luke suggested.

"Or perhaps address your daughter who has fabulous fashion sense?" I advised.

"Okay, I need your help," she said, now talking solely to me. "Single and successful, or married to her work?"

"This is for the Small Business League thing, right?" I checked.

"Yes, and it's one of the few times a year I dress up," Mom said. "I'd like to look nice."

"Is Keith still going as your date?" Luke asked.

"Wait, you and Keith are going on a date?" I turned to Mom, instantly excited. I had been waiting for _years _for Mom and Keith to finally realise they were perfect for each other and get together.

"It's not a date, we're just going together," Mom said quickly, and I slumped as she dashed my hopes and dreams. "Why would you say that?"

"Because you'd be perfect together," I said in a 'duh' tone.

"Where is this coming from?" Mom asked with a laugh.

"You're not exactly old, Mom," Luke began.

"Smooth," I sniggered.

"I'm just saying I'd be alright with it, you know?" Luke said.

"Me too," I said, holding myself from bouncing up and down. "Totally fine with it!"

"Well, thank you cupids," she said. "Now, help with the dresses, please."

"Black," Luke and I said in unison.

"Nice," I said, and we fist bumped. "Twin powers, activate."

"Black it is," she said, looking amused. She went to walk away and paused. "Keith didn't say something to you, did he?"

I shared a grin with Luke.

"Oh, you mean about the date you two aren't going on tonight?" Luke smirked. "Not a word."

She went back into her room.

"God, I hope she is finally coming around," I said. "So I'll see you at the game."

"You're coming?" he said, sounding surprised.

"Sure," I said casually. "I'm catching the bus with Haley to Pickerington." He looked at me suspiciously. "What? I go to all your games, why is this such a surprise?"

"Because you can't lie," he said bluntly. "Which is ironic considering your acting skills. Don't worry, I'll get it out of you sooner or later."

"Damn it," I muttered as he left.

* * *

I sat beside Haley, who was sitting between me and Mouth as he recorded his announcing for . She was flicking through a magazine as the team warmed up, and I tried and failed to avoid looking at Clay. He hadn't noticed my arrival yet.

Haley put her magazine down just before Nathan came by, giving her the nod. Haley smiled at him. I almost choked on my Coke.

"Haley," I hissed. "Did Nathan just give you the nod?"

"What?" she said, going red. "No, he…"

Of course Clay chose that moment to spot me, and give me the nod like Nathan had to Haley only moments earlier.

"Hey," I nodded back to him, sensing Haley's jaw drop.

"Did _you_ just get the nod, Miss Scott?" she said.

"You got the nod first!" I exclaimed. At her puzzled look, "Yeah, I don't know where I was going with that."

"Is there something going on between you and Clay?" she asked.

"Is there something going on between you and Nathan?" I retorted.

"I withdraw the question," she said, and we both turned back to the game. Mouth had been too into preparing for the night's game to notice our dramatics, thankfully. If Skills heard about this I was in for another 'be careful' lecture. If _Lucas_ heard about this, he'd probably stop speaking to me.

The game started and Nathan and Luke seemed to be back at making snarky comments to each other, none of which we could hear from the stands.

What we couldn't miss, however, was when Nathan threw the ball at the back of Luke's head, and Luke tackled him to the ground, knocking over Peyton in the process. Clay rushed to get between them to break it up, earning himself a split lip in the process from Nathan, who had been aiming for Luke.

"They're on the same team!" Whitey roared as both Nathan and Luke were sent off the court.

"What the hell just happened?" Haley asked, while Mouth and I stood there, our mouths agape.

After the game, I rushed over to Clay.

"How's your lip?" I asked, worried.

He grinned, and then winced as the smile pulled at the split. "I'll survive. I may kill your brothers though, if Whitey doesn't first."

"Brother," I corrected him.

He gave me a confused look. "Huh?"

"I've just got the one brother," I said, and he nodded, realising that Lucas was the only one I considered a brother.

"Right," he said. "Well, I'm glad you came. Even if I got this," he indicated to his lip. "Trying to break up a fight."

"Well, it's very manly," I grinned, and he smiled back, wincing again. I touched his lip gently and he held eye contact for a long moment. My breath caught but before anything else could happen, we were interrupted.

"Beth!" Luke called, and I didn't miss the anger in his tone. I realised we had attracted the attention of both Luke and Nathan, neither of them looking happy to see Clay and I standing so close.

I sighed and took a step back. "I'll see you later," I said and he raised his hand in goodbye. I didn't say anything to Luke, but paused at Nathan.

"You could apologise to your best friend," I said. "Considering you busted his lip and all."

He looked at me in shock, not anger to my surprise. I headed off in search of Haley, and was surprised to find that she had caught that too.

"Well, well, well," she said, sounding amused. "First the nod, then the concern over his lip?"

"He's a nice guy," I shrugged. "We're just friends. Hey! Just like you and Nathan."

"Point taken," Haley said, hands in the air. "Do you mind taking a quick walk? I could kill either Lucas or Nathan right now."

"Sure," I agreed. We still had a bit of time before the bus left.

"What do you think they were fighting about?" she asked, and I sent her an amused look. "What?"

"Probably you," I said. "Luke hates you being friendly with Nathan. I bet Nathan rubs that in as much as he can."

She sighed. "He's not the devil, Beth."

"Agree to disagree, Haley," I said.

We got a little lost on the way back, and ran into Brooke.

"What are you still doing here?" she asked awkwardly.

"Thinking of transferring," Haley quipped. "What's your excuse?"

"Peyton has been in there forever," she said. "Since the Scott boys mowed her down." She sent a contemplative glance my way. "You look like Nathan."

"Gee thanks," I deadpanned. From Brooke, I had expected a far bitchier attitude, but still. I didn't exactly appreciate the comparison to Nathan of all people.

Peyton came out, looking surly, which wasn't a big change in her general expression. She had crutches. "Just a bit of a sprain, but I can't really walk on it. Looks like you're driving, B. Davis."

"Thank God," Brooke said. "Not that you're hurt or anything, but you behind the wheel helps no one."

We all walked outside.

"Where's your ride?" Peyton asked us.

"We're taking the last fan bus back," Haley said.

"They just left," Brooke said.

There was an awkward silence. "Mom and Keith are at that Small Business League thing," I said to Haley. "Could your parents come get us?"

"They're on one of their road trips," she sighed.

"Maybe I can get Skills…" I said thoughtfully.

"Just get a ride with us," Peyton said suddenly.

"Wait, what?" Brooke interrupted.

"They need a ride," Peyton shrugged. I had a feeling if we weren't Luke's sister and best friend, we wouldn't be getting this offer. And as much as I wasn't looking forward to a ride with Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer… we didn't really have a choice.

"Sure," I said.

"Thanks," Haley added.

Peyton got into the back seat to stretch out her injured ankle, and Haley climbed in beside her. This left me in the front passenger seat beside driver Brooke.

"Road trip," I muttered. This was going to be awkward.

* * *

We rode in silence for a good twenty minutes, and just I thought the awkward atmosphere couldn't get any worse, Brooke opened her mouth.

"So," she said, looking in the mirror at Haley and Peyton in the backseat. "Don't you two like the same guys, or guy, or something?"

"I'm just tutoring him, that's all," Haley said with a roll of her eyes.

"So you're not into him?" Peyton asked. "'Cause he seems to be into you."

"He gave you the nod," Brooke confirmed, then glanced at me. "Just like Clay gave Beth the nod."

"Haley doesn't like Nathan," I spoke up, ignoring Brooke's comment about Clay. I wondered if, and hoped that, she had been too distracted by Peyton's injury to notice I had checked up on him after the game.

"Just be careful, okay?" Peyton said to Haley.

"Well, what about you and Lucas?" Haley asked.

Peyton sent me an almost embarrassed look. "Don't mind me," I said, then 'coughed', "P.S. Whatever."

"What about us?" she asked.

"Oh come on, tortured artist meets tortured athlete?" Haley laughed. "Talk about your obvious attraction."

"You can brood together," Brooke contributed, making me laugh. I always referred to his brooding ways. She looked at me in surprise, then she smirked. "Well if we're talking not so obvious attractions, how about athlete meets drama clubber?"

I frowned, but was saved from answering as the gas light came on.

"Damn it," Brooke muttered, pulling over.

I got out of the car, checking the trunk and pulling out a gas container. "I saw a gas station a few miles back." I said. "If I'm not back in an hour, tell my mom I loved her."

"Don't you mean Clay?" Brooke said, raising an eyebrow.

I glared at her.

"You're going with her, Brooke," Peyton said with a slight laugh.

"What?" Brooke spun to face her best friend.

"It's your car," Peyton said. "You can't make Beth go and get gas for your car by herself."

"So send Tutor Girl," Brooke said.

"It's not _her_ car," Peyton shrugged.

"Haley can come, it's fine, right?" I said pleadingly.

"I'll wait here for you?" Haley said instead, sending me a sympathetic look.

So that's how I came to be walking along a highway with Brooke Davis of all people in the middle of the night.

"So, are you still into Luke?" I asked.

"Excuse me?"

"What, you can try and see if I like Clay but I can't return the favour?" I said innocently.

"I want to hook up with your brother," she said, then paused. "And by brother, I mean Lucas."

"He's the only brother I count," I said with a little anger.

"You have anger issues, don't you?"

"No," I said defensively, and probably proved her point.

"Interesting," she smirked, and I rolled my eyes. I wanted to wipe the smirk off her face by telling her Luke had a thing for Peyton, not her. But it wasn't really any of her business. "So I saw you go over to Clay after the game."

I didn't respond.

"I just can't figure out if you know you're playing with fire, and you're doing it to mess with Nate," she said thoughtfully. "Which I could totally respect, by the way, or if you're playing with fire and you have no idea how bad you're gonna get burned."

"I'm not playing with fire," I said.

"Yeah, right," Brooke scoffed.

"I would be stupid to trust someone that close to Nathan," I said, not sure if I was trying to convince her or myself with that.

"What, like me?" she said jokingly.

"Yeah, like someone who laughed about my mom's bad hair when Nathan showed that video of her hopes and dreams with Dan," I said, which shut her up.

We finally arrived at the gas station only to find it closed.

"Son of a bitch," Brooke said, crossing her arms. That's when I spotted the truck.

I marched over with the container and found a hose in the back of the truck.

"What are you doing?" Brooke asked.

"Here, hold this," I said, handing her the hose and container. I got out my Swiss army knife.

"Or what you'll stab me?" she laughed.

"A girl can't be too safe," I said, cutting the end of the hose. "Get that gas cap off."

"Does this really work?" Brooke asked, realising what I was doing.

"We'll see," I shrugged. I may have done the books for a garage, but it didn't mean I really knew all that much about the actual cars themselves. I put the hose in and started to suck on the other end.

"Had a lot of practice?" Brooke asked, eyebrow raised.

"I know you have, you wanna take over?" I retorted, and she raised her hands in surrender. I went back to it and shrieked as it actually worked. I grabbed the container off Brooke and we grinned excitedly as the gas came out.

We walked back in silence, and it wasn't until we were almost back at the car that Brooke spoke.

"I shouldn't have laughed at your mom," she said.

"Are you actually apologising?" I asked in shock.

She made a face at me. "Nate has said and done a lot of things to you and Lucas that aren't right. And Clay's been the only one to call him on it."

"Clay?" I said in surprise.

She gave a sly grin. "Yeah, Clay. It's just easier to laugh at things like that than face the truth."

"Which is?"

"She was a cheerleader, he was a basketball player," she said. "You think we don't know it could happen to any one of us? The guy you love turning on you and you're alone and pregnant? So I'm sorry I laughed."

"Wow, Brooke," I said, slightly impressed.

"This doesn't change anything," she warned me. "As far as I'm concerned that this night is like Vegas."

"What happens this night stays in this night?" I checked, and she nodded. "Yeah, I like that."

I wasn't exactly looking to become best friends with her either.

We got back to the car and emptied the gas into the tank. Haley and Peyton were laughing about something, much to Brooke's and my surprise.

We started to drive, before we could speak, we saw two figures in the middle of the street.

"Oh my god," Haley said, leaning in between Brooke and I.

"Is that Luke with Nathan?" I said, stunned. What the hell had happened?

* * *

Any understanding that could have come between any of us, Peyton and Haley, or me and Brooke, disappeared as the boys got into the car. Peyton ended up in the front seat beside Brooke, leaving Lucas, Haley, me and Nathan squished into the backseat in that order. The silence was excruciating, but as I told Brooke, I liked that this night wasn't going to change anything.

They had their world and we had ours. The only complication to that was Clay.

I was too wired up when Brooke dropped us off to go inside, so I went for a walk. I didn't mean to end up at the River Court, but I wasn't really surprised when I winded up there. What I was surprised by was the presence of Clay.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. I kept thinking I wouldn't be surprised by him, that I could only trust in the fact that he was Nathan's best friend.

"I like it here," he said. "I get why you're here so much."

"How's the lip?" I asked, walking over to him.

"Fine," he smiled. "What are you doing out so late?"

"Long night," I said, not knowing how to describe the surrealism of my night. "What about you?"

"I was hoping you'd show up," he said honestly.

"Clay…" I said, taking a step back.

"I know you don't trust me," he said. "Because of Nathan, because I joined in the hazing on Lucas. But there's something about you, Beth."

"Forbidden fruit?" I said wryly. He couldn't really be interested in me. In plain old, one of the boys, Beth.

"You came to the game tonight," he persisted. "You were worried when I got hurt."

I didn't step away this time as he came closer to me. I just looked up at him with wide eyes. "You shouldn't be here," I said softly. "You have your world, with Nathan and Peyton and Brooke and my world is…"

He took that moment to kiss me softly, his hands settling on my waist.

"I don't care about those separate worlds, Beth," he breathed. "And if I have to choose, I choose this one. I'm not the guy who hates people on Nate's say so anymore."

A big part of me was telling me to run away, as fast as I could from this boy who I had no reason to let in. Then he smiled at me and all I could think about was him checking I was okay, giving me a ride home, sending smiles my way when I passed him in the halls, seeing my play, wanting me at the game, giving me the nod and finally, kissing me. So I did what any teenage girl with a crush would do. I ignored all potential consequences, leaned in and kissed him again.


	7. The Other Side

**The Other Side**

To say things were awkward between me and Clay was an understatement. He gave a smile and a nod as he walked past me in the hallway, but he was with Nathan so I could understand why he didn't stop. I wasn't that keen on Nathan finding out, but more importantly, I was more than anxious about Lucas finding out.

Plus, what the hell did the nod really mean? Like, let's hook up again? Let's keep the last kiss a secret? I knew I was totally fixating on it and was in my own world when Luke walked into the diner with his suit jacket over his arm.

I had been staring into a bowl of soup, thinking about the River Court and certain kisses that had happened there, when I heard, "Hey Mom, Keith, Beth," Luke said breathlessly, a jacket over his arm. I glanced up at the sound of my name. "This doesn't fit anymore, I need a new jacket. I think I'm gonna go to this thing tomorrow."

"Wait, what?" I said, shocked. Dan and Deb Scott were holding the annual meeting for the Ravens sponsors at their house. Luke had been vocal about not wanting to go, which had made me relieved. The team and their families were supposed to attend, and Luke's refusal had gotten me off the hook.

"What changed your mind?" Mom asked.

"I don't know, I mean, nothing really," Luke grinned, and I narrowed my eyes at him. Was this about the now single Peyton?

"We'll go to Vietti's, first thing," Mom said. "Get you a new jacket."

"All right, thanks Mom," Luke grinned. "See you guys."

He rushed off before I could question him on his change of mind.

"Do you have a dress or do we need to go shopping?" Mom asked me.

"I don't wanna go," I whined.

"Look, if you go, I'll go," Keith bargained.

"How about we both don't go and we get some pizza and watch a movie?" I said.

"How about you both go and support Lucas?" Mom suggested.

I sagged against the counter, giving Mom puppy dog eyes. "Mom…"

"So, I'm assuming Luke wants to now go because of a girl," Mom said thoughtfully. "And you've been distracted for the past few days. Is there a boy?"

"What? No!" I exclaimed, feeling myself go red. "You're crazy, woman."

"So you're fine to go then?"

I sputtered for a moment, knowing I was terrible at lying. "Fine," I conceded defeat. "But yes, I would appreciate a new dress."

"For the boy?" Keith teased.

"I hate you both," I said sweetly, returning to my soup. Once I had finished, I was about to leave when Haley appeared beside me, having just finished her shift.

"Hey, mind if I walk you home?" she asked.

"Uh, sure," I said, wondering what she wanted to talk about. We said goodbye to Keith and Mom and walked out of the café. "So, what's up?"

"I need to tell you and Luke something, and I thought you might be easier," she said.

"Okay…" I said, a little worried.

"You're gonna hate this," she said. "But I shouldn't not tell you, you know?"

"No," I said honestly. "What are you trying to say, Haley?"

"I like Nathan," she blurted out, and I stopped walking. I had guessed she had a little bit of a crush, but for her to admit it to me, and that she was going to tell Lucas, made me realise how serious she was about it. When I didn't respond, she said, "Come on, let me have it, I know you're dying to…"

"Clay kissed me," I said quickly. I hadn't told anyone, but I knew that she was the last person who would judge me for it.

"_What_?" she said, and we started to walk again.

"He kissed me on the River Court the other night," I said. "And then I kissed him. There was a lot of kissing."

"Oh my God!" she said. "I know I teased you about it… so you like him?"

"Yes," I groaned. "So as much as I want to tell you to be careful around Nathan… I'm kind of telling myself that and failing to do it around Clay. I shouldn't like him, Hales."

"We don't decide who we like," she said with a grin, apparently much more at ease now she knew my little secret. "We just… it happens."

"He's different around you?" I asked. "Nathan?"

"He is," she said. "Not like anything would happen between us anyway…"

"I wouldn't say that," I said. "Look at me and Clay. I would _never_ have thought he would kiss me. And now we haven't spoken since, because Nathan's around or Luke is, and it's just…"

"Awkward?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

"Well, you going to the sponsor thing at Nathan's house?" she asked.

"Yep," I said with a frown.

"Then make a move,"

"I can't make a move!" I exclaimed.

She laughed. "I kind of like this side of you. Super confident Beth Scott afraid of a boy?"

"He's not just any boy," I admitted. Haley was pretty much the only friend I had who was a girl, and both of us had best friends who were boys. Boys didn't faze me. But Clay did.

"Then doll yourself up and walk into that party like you own it," she said. "He'll be eating out of the palm of your hand."

* * *

I got a new dress, actually did my makeup for a change and put on a pair of heels.

"Wow," Mom said. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks, Mom," I said. "Now are we sure I have to go?"

"Come on," Keith said, leading me to the car. "That boy won't know what's hit him."

Once we had gotten out of the car and started to approach the party, Lucas had an idea.

"Guys, maybe we should have a signal in case one of us wants to leave?"

"I want to leave!" I said, raising my hand.

"Or we could just leave," Keith said, adding to me. "Later, not now."

"Come on, that's no fun," Luke said, in an uncommonly good mood. "How about 'caw'?"

I burst out laughing. "Caw!"

"Caw?" Mom questioned.

"Yeah you know, like a raven," Luke said. "Caw!"

"Caw!" Mom and I said at the same time.

"That's the spirit, so when one of us wants to leave we just…" Luke said.

"Caw!" Keith finally joined in. It was moments like this I loved the randomness of my family.

"You ready, Mom?" Luke asked as we arrived at the front door. I linked arms with her. I knew this must be hard for her.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she said.

"Maybe we should just avoid him all night, and then…" I began, trailing off as Dan himself opened the front door. I tightened my grip slightly on Mom's arm.

"Come on in," Dan said after a pause.

As Dan turned, I whispered, "Caw,"

Mom smiled, but led me in anyway.

Their house was beautiful. I expected nothing less honestly, after seeing how amazing their beach house was. Dan made a speech which was as self-serving as usual. Afterward, Mom and Keith went to get drinks and Luke wandered off, leaving me feeling a bit awkward.

"Hi, Beth," Deb said, appearing beside me.

"Hi," I said, suddenly wishing I hadn't let my mother guilt trip me into supporting Luke.

"Having fun?" She seemed just as lost as I was. I was so uneasy around Deb. I couldn't understand why she wanted to make an effort with me, Mom and Luke.

"It's a really nice party," I said. "You have a beautiful house."

"Well, thank you," she said. "I'm really glad you all could make it."

"I better go find Luke," I said, grasping at an excuse to get out of this conversation.

"No problem," she said, as I quickly walked away. "Have fun!"

I went to find Luke, when instead I ran into Clay.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey,"

Would this awkwardness never end?

"How have you been?" he asked.

"Fine," I said. "You?"

"Yeah, good," he said, and then took a deep breath. "We need to talk."

"Not tonight," I said quickly, glancing around. "It's already kind of crazy enough as it is, being in this house."

"Okay," he said reluctantly, and I quickly left. I finally managed to locate Luke.

"Please don't leave me alone with these people," I said pleadingly.

"Not even Clay?" he asked, referring to when I had seen if Clay was okay after his lip had gotten busted trying to separate a fighting Nathan and Luke and not the conversation I'd just had with him.

"Lucas," I said warningly.

"Is he why you're all dressed up?"

"Is Peyton not why you changed your mind about coming here?" I retorted. I sighed. "How about we go to war on a night we aren't in Dan's house?"

"Sounds good," he agreed.

"And any time you wanna caw, I got your back," I said with a nod.

He laughed and we headed outside. We chatted for a bit while some of the guys started playing basketball, including Clay. I determinedly looked away from him. He was a bit sexy when he played.

Peyton approached Luke and I stepped aside to give them a little privacy.

"Okay everybody," a clearly drunk Brooke announced. "It's time to play truth or dare, or maybe just dare because nobody really tells the truth anymore."

I glanced at Clay, who was looking at me. Did she know something she shouldn't about us? On that road trip and the walk to get the gas for the car, she hadn't hidden her thoughts that something was going on between me and Clay. I just hoped she wasn't about to share it with the group.

She dared Theresa to go pinch Whitey's ass, which the slutty Theresa agreed to. Even though most of these people were Brooke's friends, everyone stood tense, waiting to see what she would do next.

"Let's see, Peyton?"

"Brooke, come on," Peyton said quietly.

"I dare you to show us how you really feel," she said. "Kiss Lucas."

Peyton grabbed Luke's face and kissed him, and I saw the sigh Nathan let out. I felt bad for Haley – as much as I didn't trust or like Nathan, she really did like him. The instant the kiss was over, Peyton had walked away.

"What is your problem, Brooke?" Clay asked, sounding fed up.

"I wouldn't test me tonight, Evans," Brooke snapped. "You may be trying on the halo but that doesn't mean we don't know who you really are, bad boy," she glanced at me. "Or the secrets you're hiding."

I had a sinking feeling. Was I the secret he was hiding? Or was he hiding secrets from me?

I didn't stick around, deciding to hunt down Mom or Keith since Luke had disappeared again, presumably after Peyton.

However, it was Haley I spotted instead. I was about to call out to her, surprised but happy to see her, when Nathan noticed her first.

"Haley?"

She looked over and I stood back, wanting to see how the two of them interacted.

"Hey, I'm not crashing, I promise," she said nervously. "Your mom just wanted some cakes."

"Cakes?"

"Yeah, it's a long story," she said. "She invited me to stay, and I sort of had a brain freeze and said 'sure'. It's probably really weird, I'm actually gonna leave."

"No, I'm glad you came," Nathan said.

"Really?" Haley said, sounding surprised.

"Yeah, I'd even study right now," he said. "Be a lot more fun than this suck fest."

My heart sunk for Haley. That really made it sound like he only looked at her as a tutor.

"Sorry, I'm off duty," she said, attempting to make light of it.

"Then let me get you a drink," he said. I smiled a little, hoping I was wrong about him when Brooke made an appearance.

"Tutor girl," Brooke said loudly. I quickly walked over, not sure what Brooke was going to do since she was willing to humiliate her own best friend this evening.

"Haley!" I said, as if I had just seen her.

"Hey, Beth," Haley said.

"Haley, right…" Brooke said. "Nathan's own personal little care package. Everything's starting to make so much more sense now. You two are adorable. What was my favourite part? 'Believing you'll do well is half the battle.'"

"What are you talking about, Brooke?" I asked, genuinely lost.

"You know, Tutor Girl's little love note Nate passed around earlier," Brooke said earnestly. "You know, the one that said 'call me if you need anything at all.'"

"Hales," I said, seeing the horror-struck look on her face. "You know I wouldn't stick up for Nathan if this wasn't the truth. But he didn't pass around any note."

"Well of course you wouldn't know," Brooke snapped. "You were too busy with your little boyfriend."

I froze when I realised she had seen me speaking to Clay. Seeing that there could have been an opportunity for Nathan to do it when I wasn't there, Haley's face fell.

"Haley…" Nathan began.

"Stay away from me," Haley snapped, leaving the party.

"Game's getting old, Brooke," Nathan said, looking after Haley with a sad expression. I went to leave when he grabbed my arm gently. "Hey, Beth, thanks for that."

I'd never seen Nathan looking so uncomfortable. I shrugged. "It was the truth, right?"

"Yeah, but you had no reason to save my ass," he said, looking a little surprised that I had.

"It wasn't for you," I said honestly. "It was for Haley."

He nodded, and I walked away. I headed through the house, freezing when I saw that Deb and Mom talking and laughing together. It was unnerving, to say the least. I wondered if this was what hell looked like frozen over.

I went outside, sitting on a swing.

"I loved swings as a kid,"

I looked up to see Clay smiling down at me.

"Me too," I said.

"I always wanted to go higher," he said. "I was convinced I could touch the sky."

I smiled. "What are we doing, Clay?"

"I don't know," he said, grabbing my hand and bringing it up so I would stand beside him. "You look amazing, tonight."

"You too," I said. "You clean up well, Evans."

It was all of a sudden that he swooped in a kissed me again, like he had been desperately waiting for an opportunity to do it again. This was nothing like the gentle kisses we had experienced on the River Court. It was explosive and passionate and I clung to him, no longer thinking about how awkward things had been but somehow knowing that this is what we should have been doing all along.

"Uh, caw," a voice said, and Clay and I pulled apart to see Keith standing there, not happy to see his niece making out with his nephew's best friend.

"Hi, Uncle Keith," I said meekly. "So caw?"

"Caw," he nodded. "Let's go."

"Caw?" Clay questioned, looking a little dazed. I was a bit dazed myself after that kiss.

"I have to go," I said. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

He nodded and I followed my uncle.

"Our secret?" I said hopefully.

"Yeah, I don't ever wanna relive that," Keith agreed. "Pretend it never happened?"

"Deal," I said quickly. We got in the car, where Luke and Mom were already waiting.

"You have to find Haley," I said to Luke. I quickly explained what had happened. "I don't think he did it, Luke."

"Because he's proven himself to be such a good guy?" Luke said harshly.

"Because one of us would have seen or heard about it," I said, wondering what his problem was.

"I'll go talk to her," was all he said as we started to drive away. I looked out the window and spotted Clay watching after our car, almost looking lost. I remembered what Brooke had said about him and the secrets he was hiding. I let out a shaky breath and hoped I was the only one he had.


	8. Ciao, Mama

**Ciao, Mama**

"What's with you?" Luke asked, sounding amused.

I was attempting to do a handstand against the wall, but kept falling down.

"Trying to do yoga," I said, indicating to the television in which a gorgeous woman was doing it with no problem. I collapsed to the ground. "I give up."

"So why are you trying yoga?" he asked.

"I'm bored," I complained. "Auditions for the next play aren't for a month or so."

"Oh," he nodded, realising I was stir crazy.

"Yep," I sighed. Not to mention I was still on awkward ground with Clay after that kiss that had been interrupted by Keith. We had kissed once, no big deal. Now we'd kissed twice… I was just trying to stay busy. It had only been twenty four hours, and I needed to keep my mind off him. "Did Mom leave us some dinner?"

"Yeah, and I've heated it up," he said, so I followed Luke into the kitchen. We sat down and Luke pressed the answering machine, seeing there was a message.

"Buon giorno. I am Marcello Vivani of the Giannino Culinary Institute in Florence," an Italian voice said from the machine. "I call for signorina Karen Roe…"

Mom walked in with a bag of groceries.

"Hey, Mom, there's a message for you," I said.

"… but we haven't heard from you," the message continued. "We sent a letter inviting you to start next week and we haven't heard a word. So would you be kind enough to call me back?"

Mom pressed a button, stopping the message.

"Is that that school you've been talking about forever?" Luke asked.

Mom had learnt to cook with no formal training, relying on books and trial and error as she started the café. Her passion for it grew over the years, and she had mentioned this awesome school in Italy that she would love to go to numerous times.

"Did you get in?" I said, excited for her.

"Yeah," Mom said, but she didn't seem thrilled at all.

"Mom, that's great," Luke said.

"It's not a big deal," she shrugged. "I'm not gonna go."

"What do you mean you're not going to go?" I said incredulously. "You've been dreaming about this place for years."

She headed over to the counter and started to unload the groceries. "Maybe I'll just go some other time."

"No, Mom, now's the time," Luke said, and I agreed with him.

"You put your whole life on hold for us," I said. "Every choice you've made has been about us."

"That's the way it's supposed to be," she smiled. "I'm your mother."

"And we're not little kids anymore," I said. "You deserve this, Mom. Go."

"I'll think about it," she said reluctantly. I didn't understand why she suddenly didn't want to go.

"Don't think about it," Luke advised. "Do it."

"I don't know why she doesn't want to go," I whispered to Luke when Mom left the room.

"Me neither," he said. "We'll convince her."

* * *

I finished my dinner and started drumming my fingers against the table, thinking about Clay.

"So the yoga didn't calm you down?" Luke said wryly.

I stood abruptly. "I'm going for a walk."

"Wanna come with me to the River Court?" Luke offered.

"Are you finally making an appearance?" I teased. Since he had started playing for the Ravens, he understandably hadn't had a lot of time to play at the River Court. Of course, that had been in my favour as I won a lot more games now.

He rolled his eyes. "It hasn't been that long."

"Thanks, but I'm gonna pass," I said with a grin. "I wouldn't want you to lose your reunion game."

"Very funny," he smiled. I put my dishes in the sink and went outside, pausing for a moment as I decided where to go. Normally I would have jumped at the chance to clear my head with basketball, but the mere mention of the River Court had brought up images of that first kiss with Clay.

Damn it. Why did he have to ruin the River Court? I decided to head down to the docks, hoping it would distract me.

"Beth!" Clay called. I hadn't known where he lived, so I was surprised when I saw him shooting hoops out the front of his house that was just as huge as Deb and Dan's was.

"Hi," I said in surprise. He got up and jogged over to me, a grin instantly on his face. "I didn't know you lived around here."

_Translation: I hope you know I wasn't stalking you or anything._

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Just for a walk," I said. He nodded, and I blurted out, "I needed a distraction."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, a sly grin appearing on his face like he knew exactly what I needed a distraction from. I took a step closer to him.

"Yeah," I said softly. "For some reason, you're stuck in my head, Clay Evans."

"Well, Beth Scott," he breathed, stepping closer to me so we were only an inch away from each other. "Why do you think I was playing basketball?"

I smiled at the thought that he needed a distraction like I had and kissed him. It just got better and better every time.

"We should talk," I said once I managed to pull myself away from him.

He nodded. "Wanna go for that walk?"

We started to head down the street, and I wasn't quite sure where to start.

"So here's the thing," Clay said. "I like you, a lot."

"I like you, too. But things are complicated, right?"

"Right," he agreed. "So what do you wanna do about this?"

"Well," I said. "I kind of just want to keep kissing you."

He smiled, and it lit up his whole face. He stopped walking and so I did too, and he kissed me softly.

"Let's just do that, then," he suggested.

"And not tell anyone?" I said hopefully. It wasn't as though I was embarrassed to be seen with Clay – far from it. He was clearly out of my league, not the other way around. But the thought of Lucas knowing… he had made it clear from his comments about Clay that he would not be happy if he found out I had been making out with Nathan's best friend.

"You don't want Lucas to find out?" he said knowingly.

"I'm betting you feel the same about Nathan," I said, and I felt surprisingly little anger in reference to Clay's best friend. "I know you guys are close."

"I'd say brothers, but that might make this a little weird," he quipped, and I rolled my eyes at him with a smile. He sighed. "Yeah, I don't think Nate would be thrilled. But I want to be clear, Beth," he said, looking at me in a way that made my heart skip a beat. "If this works out, and I really hope it does, they're going to have to know we're together."

"One step at a time, Romeo," I breathed, somewhat taken aback. I was both excited that he thought that we'd end up together, and a little scared about what the reactions would be if we did decide to be a couple.

"Right, first things first," he nodded, kissing me again. Before I could fully melt into the kiss, he pulled away, looking around. "We should probably get out of the public eye. You never know who might be watching."

"Clay," I laughed, as he started to act like we were in enemy territory. In a way, we kind of were, I thought with amusement.

"No, no," he said, putting his arm around me and leading me back towards his house. "Who is this Clay you speak of? I am… Logan Howlett."

"Logan Howlett?" I said, bemused.

"And you can be Jean Grey," he said.

"Wait," I said, realising where he was going with this. "Is that an X-Men reference?"

He beamed at me as we arrived at his front door. "Did you just _get_ an X-Men reference?" he teased as he opened the door. It was a lovely house, but as he led me upstairs, I noticed it seemed somewhat cold. Like you could notice it there wasn't a female's touch anywhere. In a town as small as Tree Hill, you heard stuff. I knew that Clay's mom had died when he was little. But as I walked into his room, all thoughts on his dead mother were lost as my attention seemed to zero in on his bed.

I wasn't sure what he was expecting. I had only slept with one guy before, a fling from the previous summer with a guy who turned out to only want that one thing. I'd been blinded by his good looks and charm, and my stomach dropped as I wondered just how much of Clay had said was truth and how much of it was said because it was what I wanted to hear. After all, he was known for his man whore ways around town. Girls loved him.

Clay noticed my abrupt stop in his doorway. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said quickly, but he noticed me looking at his bed.

"Hey," he said gently. "I didn't bring you up here to have sex with you."

"You didn't?" I said, with a raised eyebrow.

He laughed. "I'm not saying I'd say no… look, I know what kind of reputation I have. But do you really think I'd risk my friendship with Nate for a girl I just wanted to fuck and never call again?"

He had a point. And by starting this whole thing, I was trusting that this wasn't orchestrated by Nathan in the first place to humiliate me. I was trusting Clay.

"I've been burnt once before," I admitted quietly. I shook my head. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't be," he said, waving his hand. He didn't seem offended, much to my relief. "You know what we need to do?"

"Pretend the outside world doesn't exist?" I joked.

"Exactly," he smiled, putting his hands on either side of my face. He looked at me for a long moment, and I tried not to show my vulnerability so plainly on my face. Finally, he kissed me.

"I can do that," I murmured, already losing all rational thought as I kissed him back.

* * *

The following morning, I woke up with a smile on my face. Clay and I had made out for hours, and he was true to his word and didn't push beyond that. My restlessness that had had me resorting to yoga had disappeared, and I cheerfully headed into the kitchen.

"Beth?" Mom called from the living room. Her eyes flew to me anxiously as I walked in.

"What's wrong?" I asked, my good mood evaporating into panic.

"Have you seen your brother?" she asked, her concern clear in her tone.

"Not since last night," I said. "He was heading to the River Court. Is he not here?"

"No," she said. "I didn't realise until I woke up this morning, but his bed hasn't been slept in."

"I'm sure he's fine," I said, careful to keep my voice steady. "I'll give Skills a call, maybe he knows where Luke…"

At that moment, Luke walked into the house, rubbing his eyes as if he hadn't gotten enough sleep.

"Please tell me you were somewhere in the land of no phones," Mom said, and Luke registered our presence with surprise.

"I know," Luke said apologetically. "I should have called."

"Are you okay?" I asked, checking him over. He didn't look like he had the night he'd returned covered in mud, after been hazed by the team. Surely I would have known if something like that was happening, after spending most of my night making out with one of the Ravens?

"I'm fine," he said, and then turned to Mom. "I'm sorry."

"You looked me in the eye and said, 'Go to Italy. We can take care of ourselves.'" Mom said, not sounding very impressed.

"We _can_ take care of ourselves," I spoke up, and Mom gave me a look. "Granted, Luke staying out all night wasn't the best start…"

"A guy drugged Peyton's drink at a party," Luke explained. "Brooke called me for help. I took her home, waited til she felt better. Truth."

"Whoa," I muttered. That was pretty intense. "Is Peyton okay?"

"She'll be fine," Luke said, sounding relieved.

"Well as excuses go, that's pretty solid," Mom nodded. "I'm glad she's okay. But drugs, parties, and I'm supposed to leave the country."

"Wait, does that mean you've changed your mind?" I asked hopefully. "You're going to Italy?"

"Maybe," she said, looking from me to Luke thoughtfully. I squirmed at the thought of her finding out I had been off with Clay last night, way past curfew. "But if I do go, I'm going to have Keith come and stay here while I'm gone."

"Great, just as long as you go," Luke said. I agreed. I didn't mind Keith staying at all. I just wanted Mom to go and achieve that dream of hers that she had more than earned. Luke pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Mom. "I went on Peyton's computer and booked you a flight on the emergency credit card. Non-refundable."

"Nice work, Luke," I approved, leaning over his shoulder to get a look.

Mom couldn't help but smile. She put one arm around Luke and motioned me over with the other, hugging the both of us at the same time. We hadn't had a group hug like this since we were little kids.

"I'm going to miss you guys," Mom murmured, hugging us tightly.

* * *

"Hey, Mom?" I called across the café cautiously.

She walked over to me quickly. She'd asked me to go over the books to make sure that she could afford to close the café for the six weeks she was gone. At the look on my face, she sunk in to the seat beside me.

Without a word, I turned the books towards her and she looked them over, quickly coming to the same conclusion I had.

"I can't afford to shut it down for six weeks," she said, the disappointment coming off her in waves.

"I'm so sorry," I said, feeling horrible for her. If it was summer, I would have happily taken over running the café for her (even with my abysmal skills in a kitchen) just so she would go.

"Well, that's life," she said, throwing it off as she got up and went behind the counter.

"I'll go over the books again," I said with determination.

"Beth…" she began.

"I'll go over the books again," I said firmly. "We're making this happen, Mom."

She gave me a fond look and started to clean behind the counter.

The bell above the door sounded as Deb walked in. I returned my gaze to the books, annoyed at her presence. I didn't like that I had seen my mom getting close to her at the party.

"Have I lost my dining privileges?" she asked.

"Why would you?" Mom asked with a smile. Oh my god, were they friends now? The only upside in that was how furious it had to be making Dan.

"Because yesterday I popped off about how you should drop everything and go to Italy," Deb said. "I can be a bit pushy."

I was surprised that she even knew about Italy, let alone encouraged Mom to go.

"Actually I was all set to go, but Beth," Mom indicated to me, and Deb smiled in greeting. "Was going over the books and there is no way I can shut down for six weeks."

"I'm still looking over the books, Mom," I said.

"You're not going to change the numbers, honey," Mom said gently.

"Well, then don't close," Deb said suddenly, as if inspiration had just struck. "Hire me. I can take over."

"Wait, what?" I said, stunned. That idea was wrong on so many levels. The evil stepmother coming in to save the day?

"Right," Mom laughed. Thank God she didn't take Deb seriously. This was _our_ turf, not theirs.

"Why not?" Deb asked. "I've got the time and the management experience and if that's all that's keeping you from going…"

"Deb, be serious," Mom said, sounding shocked. "I have three things in my life; Beth, Lucas and this café."

"I know that," Deb said seriously. "And because of that, you know I'd take it seriously. You can help me with the big stuff today and Beth and Haley can help me with the rest."

"I only do the books," I spoke up. "And I will find something in the books to help us, Mom."

"No, you won't," Mom said.

"I'd like to believe we're friends," Deb said to Mom, confirming my suspicions. Ironically, I was aware that this sinking feeling would be a lot like how Luke would feel if he found out about me and Clay. "I know that's happened quickly, but it has, and it means a lot to me. So I'm going to say this and deny it if it ever gets out. There are things in my life I would change if I could and running from opportunity is one of them. Go to Italy. Let me help you go. Your life is now."

Damn it, even I felt moved by that speech. So I couldn't blame Mom for agreeing. Deb went to get something out of her car.

"I don't like her doing this," I said honestly to Mom. "But if it means you can go, then I'm all for it."

"Really?" Mom said, sounding surprised. "Who is this new Zen Beth? What happened to my angry daughter?"

I smiled. "Trying to be a little more like her mom, I guess." I handed her the books. "I'm gonna head to the River Court. But I'll let you be the one to share this good news with Luke."

"How generous of you," she said sarcastically.

* * *

The boys were already in the middle of a game when I arrived, and I was happy at the sight of Luke back on our court. As much as I'd teased him about a reunion game, he belonged here just as much as he did on the court with the Ravens.

"Hey, Beth," Mouth smiled as I took a seat beside him on the bench.

"Hey, Mouth," I said. "So who's winning?"

"Luke and Fergie," he replied.

"Beth!" Skills called. "You wanna help me beat your brother next game?"

"Sure," I called back, poking my tongue out at Luke.

"You can try, little sister," Luke called as the boys started to play again.

"Barely five minutes and he never lets me forget it," I complained to Mouth.

He grinned but before he could reply, a car pulled up beside the River Court. It was Brooke Davis, of all people.

"She ain't coming to watch me play, dog," I heard Skills say to Luke.

Brooke waved at Luke, and it was a surprisingly shy smile that she sent his way.

"Hey Beth," she smiled at me and Mouth, taking a seat on the other side of Mouth. "What's your name again?" she asked Mouth, and I was surprised by how friendly she was being. Even though she had apologised to me for the way she had laughed at the video of Mom, the last time I had seen her she had purposely humiliated Haley and tried to ruin whatever was going on between Nathan and Haley. Not that I particularly wanted them together, but Haley was my friend and I wasn't the most friendly when one of my own was threatened.

"Mouth," he answered her.

"Really?" she smiled. "That was my nickname at summer camp."

I laughed, and she didn't even get offended. "Coz I slept with my mouth open," she clarified. "You know you're kind of cute, do you have a girlfriend? I've got a real knack for hooking people up."

She and Luke exchanged a smile. I leaned over Mouth and said, "What's up with you, Brooke? You're being…"

"Nice?" she suggested.

"Weird is more like it," I corrected her.

"I know I've been a first class bitch," she began, and Mouth quickly excused himself, clearly sensing girl drama. "But I've been trying to make up for it. I set Nathan and Haley up on a date."

"Really?" I said in surprise.

"Really," she said with a soft smile. "I kind of like Luke," she admitted, and her sincerity made me swallow any words against her. The smile Luke sent her way surprised me, because he had always been more than obvious about his feelings for Peyton. "I'm trying to turn a new leaf, square my karma."

I nodded, thinking of Clay. I had given him a chance, hadn't I? I had trusted that he wanted to change.

"Okay," I said simply.

"Really?" she said, this time the one who was surprised.

"I don't really know you," I said honestly. "And I can be a world class bitch on my own when not trying to be Zen."

"Zen?" she said with a laugh.

"My own way of squaring my karma," I said with a wink, making her laugh again.

We both turned our gazes back to the game. Just a few months ago, if you had told me I would be hooking up with Clay Evans and accepting Brooke Davis as a potential girlfriend for Luke, I would have laughed in your face. Yet here we were.

It was funny. I had no idea what direction my life was heading in, but for the first time, I was starting to feel a little less restless. Plus maybe considering Luke appeared interested in Brooke now, maybe he wouldn't completely lose it if Clay and I became a couple...

Yeah, well, I could dream.


	9. Secrets

**Secrets**

I was walking towards my locker when I saw Nathan come out of a classroom with a smirk on his face, and Haley appeared a moment later, a goofy smile spread across her face.

"Well, well," I said in amusement, startling her. "Just what have you been up to, Hales?"

"God!" she exclaimed. "You scared me."

"Making out at school, are we?" I teased.

She grinned. "So I take it from you mocking me that you're okay with me dating Nathan?"

The new couple was the talk of the school since Nathan had made it clear he didn't give a damn what his friends thought about his new girlfriend. I begrudgingly respected him for it.

"Look, he seems to be less of an ass with you around," I said honestly. "And anything that makes him less annoying, I support."

"Uh, thanks, I think?" Haley said with a laugh. "What about you?"

"What about me?" I asked as we reached my locker. I bent down to undo the lock.

"Any more making out with a certain friend of a friend?" she winked.

I paused. "Maybe," I admitted.

"Have you been holding out on me?" she asked, hitting my shoulder.

This was weird. Haley and I had been friends for years, but neither of us had been prone to girly conversations. Plus, we were both best friends with boys. But our girlyness appeared, apparently, when Clay and Nathan appeared on the scene.

"We're just seeing how it goes," I said quietly. "So I can trust you not to tell your boyfriend, right?"

"Fine," she said, though didn't look too happy about it. "So how are things going?"

"Good," I said with a grin. Since I had awhile until auditions, my free time was now spent mostly with Clay. His dad was often out of town on a business trip, which meant we had the house to ourselves.

"Well, good," she nodded. "I have to get to class, so I'll see you later."

"See you," I waved, my head in my locker.

"Hey,"

I hit my head on my locker and groaned. "I need to get a top locker," I complained, standing up to greet Clay.

"Before you say anything," he said. "People knew we were friendly before, so I can talk to you at school."

"Did I say anything?" I said innocently, closing my locker and grabbing my books.

"I just wanted to let you know I can't hang tonight," he said. "Dad's home and I'm expected to be home for dinner."

He didn't sound thrilled to be spending time with his dad. I didn't know much about their relationship, beyond his father's dedication to his job and tendency not to be around. It was odd to me. My whole life my mom had only spent the rare night away from home, and even in her absence in Italy, I had the parental figure in Keith living with me. I didn't know how Clay could stand to be in that big empty house by himself, even if I was coming by most nights.

"No problem," I said. "I was getting a bit sick of you, anyway," I said with a teasing smile.

"Oh really?" he said, taking a step towards me, before remembering where we were. "Wanna do something tomorrow?"

"Sure," I said, finding it hard not to kiss him goodbye like I had for the past week at his house.

He smirked, reading me easily. "See you later, Scott," he said teasingly, swaying his butt side to side as he walked off. I knew telling him he had a hot ass the night before would come to bite me on mine.

"Very seductive, Evans," I teased.

* * *

Drama club had a meeting after school, organising what play we would do next. It ran late but got me out of school at the same time as Luke.

"Luke!" I called, and he turned to me with a smile.

"Hey," he greeted.

"How was basketball practice?" I asked.

"Whitey's pretty intense," he said. "We have a chance of being undefeated this season, so I get it."

"Look at you," I nudged him with my shoulder. "First season in the game and looking to be undefeated? Nice."

He fist bumped me and grinned. "It's not all me, but thanks," he said.

"Ever the modest one," I said. "So what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, giving me a quizzical look.

"Well, one second you like Peyton, the next Brooke is around," I said, grabbing at the opportunity to quiz him about his love life.

"Peyton and I are just friends," he said. "And Brooke… I don't know, she's fun, I like her. And I thought you two made peace at the River Court last week?"

"We did," I confirmed. I had meant what I had said to Brooke and accepted she wanted to change. "Can I not be curious about what goes on in my brother's love life?" I said innocently.

"Does that mean I get to ask you about yours?" he asked.

"I'm starving," I said, changing the subject. There was no way I wanted him digging around mine. "Want to go to the café?"

He frowned. "Deb'll be there."

"It's still Karen's Café," I said. "Besides, her presence shouldn't drive us out of there."

"This sounds a lot like you marking your territory," he warned.

"Gross," I complained. "It's not like I'm about to pee all over the café, Lucas."

He just grinned. "So how was drama club?"

I proceeded to tell him about the various arguments for numerous plays as we walked to the café. I walked in first and abruptly stopped at the sight of Dan standing in the café. Allowing Deb here was one thing. I felt sick at the sight of Dan in my mom's place.

"What…" Luke started to ask, then saw what I was staring at. "Come on," he muttered, and we turned and walked out. Dan Scott shouldn't be anywhere near the café.

* * *

Dinner that night was at a pizza place.

"So what's with the two of you?" Keith asked bluntly as the food arrived. Luke and I hadn't exactly been talkative. We'd both been too busy stewing on who we had seen in the café.

"We went by the café," I said dully.

"And?" Keith prompted.

"Dan was there," Luke said, and I could hear the anger in his tone that I felt myself.

"So, what, are you both going to avoid the café for the next six weeks?" Keith asked.

"What, you don't like pizza?" Luke asked.

"I love pizza," Keith said. "But that's not the point."

"The point is I can, no matter how much I hate it, accept Nathan's mom running the café," I said. "But I can't handle _him_ being in there."

Brooke appeared by Luke's side, holding a book. "Hey handsome. Three more chapters and you're all mine," she said, a note of seduction in her voice. She bounced away, looking proud of herself.

"What was that?" Keith asked.

"Nothing," Luke shrugged. I snorted.

"I disagree," Keith said. "That was definitely something."

"Definitely," I agreed, and Luke just laughed, not bothering to deny it.

* * *

The following afternoon I gave Clay a call. I hadn't seen him much at school, but then there at been so much drama within the drama club about what play we were going to do I didn't see much of any of my friends.

"Hey," he greeted warmly.

"Hi," I said. "You wanted to do something tonight?"

"Yeah," he said. "Have you had dinner yet?"

"No, why?"

"I think it's time I took you on a date," he declared.

I put on a nice dress, and with a shaking hand added some mascara. I shook my head at myself in the mirror. I didn't know why I was so nervous. After all, I had been spending most of my spare time with him lately. So why should a date bother me?

_Maybe because you were so committed to keeping things casual, _I thought. It was then I realised why I was so anxious. I knew that if things kept going this well, we would end up officially together. Luke hadn't disowned Haley, but I knew he would take it a lot more personally coming from me, even if he was interested in Brooke now.

"Beth?" Keith called.

"In the bathroom," I yelled, and he came in a moment later.

"Why are you getting so dressed up?" he asked.

"What? I'm not," I obviously lied. "I'm just going to dinner with some friends."

"Uh huh," Keith said, clearly not believing me. "Well, you know when curfew is. So make sure your date doesn't run too late."

"Keith," I whined. "There is no date."

"Sure there's not," he grinned, walking out of the bathroom.

I frowned at my reflection. Hopefully I would get out of here before Luke came home.

"Wow," Clay said as I hopped into his car. He'd been waiting around the corner for me. "You look amazing, Beth."

"You clean up pretty nicely yourself," I teased, leaning over and giving him a kiss. "So where are we going?"

We ended up at an intimate little restaurant outside of Tree Hill. We ordered our meals and I smirked as I noticed Clay's gaze on me.

"Yes, Clay?"

"Do you wanna know the first time I noticed you?" he asked.

"Sure," I said.

"Before the one on one game," Clay said. "Nate had told me how he wanted to put you both in your place, and how you'd told him he felt threatened by Lucas," he looked at me, somewhat amazed. "_Nobody_ had put him in his place like that before. That's why I'd looked for you at the game. I couldn't help but wonder about the girl who had stood up to Nathan Scott."

"So my anger caught your attention?" I said wryly.

He laughed. "You're passionate, Beth," he corrected me.

"Passionate, I liked that," I mused. "It's better than when I try and be Zen, anyway."

He grinned. I'd told him about how I tried to deal with the whole Scott family drama with Zen and failing miserably.

"Do you want to know when you caught my attention?" I asked, and he smirked.

"Playing basketball, showing off the bod?" he joked.

"It was when you said you wanted to change," I said. "Why did you want to change? Why did you want Nathan put in his place, when you were once just like him?"

Like that, the atmosphere immediately turned tense. I hadn't intended for my questions to make him feel awkward because I hadn't really thought that his answers would be something I didn't want to hear.

"I did some things I wasn't proud of," Clay said uncomfortably. "And it reached a point where I had to make a choice and either keep going the way I was going, or try and change into a better person." He shrugged. "I chose to change."

He clearly didn't want to talk about it, and I didn't feel like I knew him well enough to push it. Still Brooke's drunken words came back to me.

"_You may be trying on the halo but that doesn't mean we don't know who you really are, bad boy, or the secrets you're hiding."_

Our meals came and I made small talk, but I couldn't forget Brooke's words. What secrets was Clay hiding from me?

* * *

"Heard you came home drunk last night," I said to Luke, walking into his room.

"Heard of knocking?" he asked, quickly covering his arm.

My eyes widened. "What is that?" He lowered his hand to reveal a tattoo. "Mom is going to _kill_ you," I breathed.

"Come on Tara Reid, you're going to be late," Keith said as he entered the room. He stopped abruptly as he saw the tattoo. "What the hell is that?"

"Check it out," Luke said with pride, showing off the new Chinese symbol he was sporting on his arm.

Keith did not look impressed. "Tell me that's a joke," he said. "Just wipe it off, okay?'

"Keith, it's a tattoo," Luke said.

"A tattoo?" Keith said, looking ready to lose his shit. This was a little interesting, I'd never seen Keith so mad before. "What of?"

"An ancient symbol for fun," Luke said.

"You're an idiot," I said, trying not to laugh.

"Beth, you aren't helping," Luke said with a roll of his eyes.

"Beth, go have some breakfast," Keith said, and I reluctantly left the room. I couldn't help but text Skills as I got some cereal out for breakfast, and he replied by calling me and laughing his ass off at the idea of someone tattooing the 'ancient symbol for fun' on their arm.

* * *

After school, Haley caught up with me.

"So Brooke and Luke?" she said incredulously.

"I take it you heard about his new tattoo," I replied.

"Oh yeah," she said with a laugh. "But I think it's the making out with Brooke that got me… but you don't look surprised."

"She showed up at the River Court last week," I shrugged. "I knew something would happen sooner or later."

"Well, you and Clay, me and Nathan, Brooke and Luke," she mused. "Not your normal couples, huh?"

"Hey, can I ask you a question?" I said, a little anxious.

"Uh, sure, what's up?"

"I think Clay's hiding stuff from me," I admitted quietly. "And well… you know Nathan's past, and you've accepted it, right?"

"Right," she said, prompting me to continue.

"Should I just accept that his past is his past?" I asked. "Or should I be worried?"

She sighed. "I think it just comes down to how you feel. Do you trust him?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Then you have your answer," she said. "Nathan and Clay were both playboys, but I've seen the way he looks at you, even though you two rarely interact at school. He seems to really like you, Beth."

"I really like him," I said. "I'm just scared that it's too good to be true."

She nodded, and I could see some of my own fears written across her face.

"I better go," she said. "I was going to catch Nathan before the game. I'll see you there?"

"Sure," I nodded, and watched her walk away. I knew I should probably go see Clay before the game. I'd only given him a quick kiss on the cheek goodnight after our date, and wasn't even sure I would go to the game tonight.

_Do you trust him, or don't you?_

* * *

I took my usual seat between Keith and Haley for the game. Clay didn't look up once to see if I was there, and I tried to act like it didn't bother me.

Nathan was only two points away from beating Dan's scoring record, and the crowd was going wild with anticipation. Haley seemed a little nervous as they played.

"He'll make it," I said reassuringly.

At that moment, Nathan collapsed on the court. We all stood, mouths open in shock and concern. I may not love the guy, but it was frightening to see him collapse like that.

"Oh my god," Haley muttered, the fear palpable in her voice. I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to still her shaking.

Clay looked up at me for the first time all game, his eyes wide with fear. I bit my lip and looked back at him, not knowing what to say or do. He looked away and focused on Nathan.

He was so important to Clay and Haley, and I found myself hoping he would be okay. I convinced myself it wasn't me who cared.

I found myself waiting on Clay's front step, anxiously waiting his return. He had accompanied Nathan and Dan to the hospital, and I was willing to wait all night to hear if he was okay.

"Beth?" Clay sounded surprised to see me as he got out of his car.

"Is Nathan okay?" I asked, and again I could see his surprise.

"He'll be fine," he said. "His dad told me he's dehydrated."

"Oh," I said, my heart slowing down.

"You were worried about him," Clay said, sounding a little amazed.

"Only for you and Haley," I said, lying badly as I always did.

"Right," he said, clearly not believing me. "Look, it's been a long night, so if you're here to fight…"

"I'm not," I said quickly.

"You seemed mad last night," he said quietly. I could sense the hurt and wondered how it had gotten like this. One moment we were supposed to be casual, having fun, and here we were going on a date and getting hurt. Getting real feelings for each other.

"Brooke said at the sponsor party you had secrets," I explained. "And I got freaked. But I'm not with the Clay you were. I'm with the Clay you are now."

"Do you want to come in?" he asked, holding out his hand to me. He forgave so quickly, I didn't understand it. But there was only one thing really left for me to do.

I put my hand in his, allowing him to lead me inside.


	10. Make It Real

**Make It Real**

"Peyton and I just don't make sense as a couple," Luke said as he walked with me and Haley through school. "She said so herself."

"Then took it back," Haley reminded him.

"Yeah, too little, too late," I said. "Besides, I like Brooke."

"_You_ like Brooke?" Haley said skeptically.

"Yes, she brought me over a coffee this morning," I said. Brooke had appeared this morning with coffees for Luke, Keith and me. "What's Peyton done for me lately?"

"Man, you're easy to win over," Luke laughed.

"I can see how into you she is," I shrugged. "Which is more than I can say for the sourpuss known as Peyton."

"Hey, I've seen Peyton really try to make an effort to turn things around," Haley defended her new friend. "It just sucks that she got bit the first time she reached out to somebody."

"Haley, I'm not the bad guy here," Luke said. "Peyton's just too hard."

"Unlike Brooke, who I understand is nice and easy," Haley sniped.

"Really?" I said. "I thought we weren't judging people by their pasts, Haley," I reminded her of our discussion about Clay and Nathan.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked.

"Nothing," I said, and Haley rolled her eyes at me. She had been at me lately to come clean to Luke about my relationship with Clay.

"Fine, if you're happy, I'm happy," she said to Luke.

"Are you?" he asked. "Happy?"

"Yeah," she said. "And I'm glad I could tell you about my relationship without you not talking to me anymore," Haley said pointedly. I glared at her.

"What are you talking about?" Luke asked, this time with an eye roll.

"Nothing," Haley and I said in unison.

* * *

"So… what are you doing?"

We were sprawled out across his bed together, and I looked at Clay, amused.

"Trying to learn my audition piece for _The Crucible_."

There had finally been a decision reached for what play we were doing next.

"Who do you want to play?"

"Abigail Williams," I said.

He whistled. "You don't go for the easy stuff, do you?"

I was impressed. "You've read _The Crucible_?"

"English last year," he reminded me. I nodded and returned to the script.

Within moments, he was kissing my neck. "Clay," I sighed, putting down the script. "Are you bored now that basketball has been put on hold?"

"…maybe," he admitted. "This would've been so much better timed between your two plays. Then we could have been bored together," he said in a suggestive tone.

I laughed. I kissed him, and he eagerly had me on my back in seconds.

"If only there was some way for my girlfriend to help me get rid of all this pent up energy," he mused between kisses.

I pulled back slightly. "Girlfriend?"

"Yeah," he said with a grin. "It still may be secret from most people, but yeah, girlfriend."

I smiled at him and kissed him. "Maybe there's some way for me to help you…" I pondered, squealing as he tickled my sides.

* * *

I couldn't help but smile softly to myself as I headed home. I'd only stayed an hour or so at Clay's, because Mom was calling home at six. I automatically glanced into the café as I walked past, and sighed when Deb spotted me.

"Beth!" she called, coming outside.

I stopped walking, my smile disappearing. "Hi, Deb," I said awkwardly.

"You haven't been by the café in a while," she said.

"Not since I saw Dan there," I said bluntly.

"I know it must be hard for you," she began.

"Not really," I interrupted. "It just startled me to see him in my mom's place, you know?" I sighed. "I'll be by sometime this week to work on the books, so if that was all…"

"Actually, there was something I needed to run by you and Lucas," she said. "Haley said that Karen always wanted to do an open mic night, to try and rustle up some more business during the quiet periods."

"Oh yeah, she did," I said, recalling Mom's thoughts last year around this time.

"I wanted to get your thoughts," Deb said, surprising me. She was being so friendly. I wondered why she was married to Dan of all people if she truly was this nice.

"It's a good idea," I said honestly. "Always dead this time of year."

"Well, good, I'm glad you like it," she said with a smile. "I'll just run it by Lucas next time I see him."

"Sure," I said, making a mental note to give Luke a heads up. "I better head home, I'll see you later."

"Bye, Beth," she said with a wave, disappearing back inside the café. I was impressed that she had wanted to run it by me and Luke, but still a little awkward seeing how she had had Dan in there.

I got my script out of my bag and buried my head in it, ready to be distracted.

"Hey Keith," I greeted as I walked into the living room.

"Hey," he said. "How was your day?"

"Good," I said with a grin.

"You look happy," he noted.

"I am," I said simply, taking a seat beside him on the couch.

"And that wouldn't have something to do with a certain friend of Nathan's, would it?" he asked, turning off the TV.

I groaned. "I thought we weren't ever going to speak about it again?"

"I just… you've been keeping to curfew, haven't gotten any random tattoos like a certain brother of yours," he said. "But I just wanna make sure you're being safe."

Oh god, this was mortifying. My face was burning from the humiliation of my uncle trying to see if Clay and I were using protection.

"We haven't even…" I said awkwardly. "But if we do it's covered. Is this over yet?"

He chuckled. "I just had to check. What do you wanna do for dinner?"

"Any leftovers of the pasta from last night?" I asked, eager to change the subject.

"Yeah, leftovers night sounds good," he agreed, and I sighed in relief that the humiliation was over. I'd bet if Lucas wasn't so obvious with his new fling with Brooke, I would not have been asked about… that.

When Mom rang at six, Luke still hadn't showed up. Keith answered the phone and lied to her, telling her Luke was late and at the library.

"Hey Mom," I said happily.

"Beth," she said, sounding the most relaxed and happy I'd ever heard her. "How's everything going?"

"Good," I said honestly. "Keeping busy, but you already know everything there is to know. Tell me _everything _about Italy!"

She laughed and told me enthusiastically about her cooking adventures, but the call had to be cut short because of the cost. I hang up with a sigh, not used to being this far away from her.

"It's hard, isn't it?" Keith said. "Your mom being so far away."

I nodded, resting my head on his shoulder. "It's weird how much I miss her," I admitted. "Though I look forward to her killing Luke for that stupid tattoo when she gets home."

Keith groaned. "Right after she kills me. But seeing how Luke missed the phone call, I might be the first one to kill him."

* * *

I was on the phone to Clay when Brooke knocked and bounced into my bedroom.

"I have to go," I said. "There's a cheerleader in my room."

"Oh, you can't leave it on that," my boyfriend groaned. "There's a letter to Penthouse that starts with that exact same thing…"

"Goodbye, perv," I laughed, hanging up. "So, heard of knocking?"

"Yeah, I don't knock," she said with a grin. "What are you doing tonight?"

I gestured at the script in front of me. "Lines, why?"

"Luke and I are going to your mom's café for open mic night," she said. "I was hoping you wanted to come with us."

"Oh, right, Deb mentioned that," I said. Even though I was okay with Brooke and Luke dating, the idea of spending time with them just sounded kind of awkward. "I don't know, third wheel and all…"

"Not even," she protested. "I just… I know we haven't gotten off on the best foot. But you did say you'd give me a chance, remember?"

I frowned, and she grinned triumphantly. "But…"

"So in giving me this chance, you'll be coming with us," she said, as if it were all decided. Luke appeared behind her.

"You coming, Beth?" he asked, wrapping his arm around Brooke.

"Yep," I said, and Brooke's eyes lit up.

"Great," she said, bouncing out again. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Thanks for this," Luke said as I grabbed a jacket.

I shrugged. "No problem. But the second I'm third wheeling, send out a caw."

He laughed and followed me out.

* * *

"So this is the place," Brooke mused, looking around the bustling café. I was surprised that this idea had worked so well.

"This is it," Luke confirmed.

"Very buzz worthy," Brooke said with a smile, and I realised just how much she liked my brother in that statement. She spotted Peyton and added, "Cool clientele, too."

She left and I looked up at Luke. "Well, this is awkward."

"What, with Brooke?" he asked, sounding surprised. "I thought you two were getting along on the way here."

That was true. Brooke was genuinely trying with me, asking me questions about acting and my general interests.

"Not with her," I said. "Being in the café while a certain evil stepmother is running it."

Luke laughed. "She can't be too evil if Mom likes her, right?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Where did this sudden liking of Deb come from?"

"Come on," he said, putting his arm around me and leading me toward the counter. "I'll shout you a coffee for coming with me and not being all Beth towards Brooke."

"All Beth?" I said with annoyance, raising an eyebrow. He ignored me as only a sibling could as we approached Deb.

"Listen, Deb, we just wanted to say you're doing a great job," Luke said, and I tried not to frown that he had included me in that. "Mom would be happy."

"That means a lot to me," Deb said with a smile, and again I wondered just why that was. Why after so long was it suddenly important to her to get to know the other woman and the stepchildren? "Thanks, Lucas, Beth."

"And about the other night," Luke said quietly, and I looked at him in confusion. I hadn't heard what happened the other night.

"Yeah, I know you think I overstepped my bounds," Deb said.

"With what? What happened the other night?" I couldn't help but ask.

Deb's cheeks reddened but Luke again expertly ignored me.

"No, it's just that if you have a problem with me, could you just talk to me about it first?" he requested.

Deb agreed and Luke ordered us each a coffee. She walked off and I crossed my arms.

"What exactly happened the other night?" I asked.

"Just something with Brooke," he said, as if it were no big deal.

"Did she catch you doing it or something?" I teased, and at his red face my eyes widened. "Oh my god, did she?"

Luke quickly explained that she had caught him and Brooke buying condoms and whipped cream, and I almost died of laughter.

"You suck," he informed me as he we received our coffees from one of the waitresses.

"I'm dying," I wheezed. He walked away, and I followed him to the table where Brooke and Peyton were sitting.

Peyton quickly excused herself, and Brooke followed her with a sigh.

"How come neither of you has told Brooke about how you and Peyton almost…"

"It doesn't matter," Luke said dismissively. "I'm with Brooke."

I gave him a look. "That's right, you're with Brooke. So Sourpuss needs to not be all dramatic about it and accept you chose someone else."

He rolled his eyes at me. "It's not that simple, Beth."

"Yes, it really is, Lucas," I retorted. We sat down at the table in silence, not necessarily annoyed with each other but just nothing really left to say. Brooke and Peyton returned, dragging some more chairs over.

"Got room for one more?"

Clay was standing there, looking at us with a smirk. I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously. What the hell was he doing?

"Sure, Evans," Brooke said, and he grabbed a chair to join us. Luke gave him a nod.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to keep my voice light.

Clay shrugged. "Heard this was a cool place," he said. "Open mic night sounded fun."

"You going to sing, Clay?" Peyton asked with a laugh. I gathered it wasn't one of his skills.

"I was planning on singing _Hopelessly Devoted to You,_" he responded. "Will that finally win you over, Peyt?"

I rolled my eyes at him, ignoring Brooke's knowing glances. Thankfully, Luke wasn't paying too much attention. In fact, he seemed determined to ignore Clay's presence as much as possible.

Jake Jagelski, one of Luke's few friends from the Ravens, got up to sing a song.

"So normally I only sing for my daughter," he said, and my mouth gaped. He had a kid?! "But something that a friend said convinced me that I should open up to a wider audience. This seemed like the right time and place. So everyone, this is my daughter Jenny, and Jenny, this is my whole world."

He started to play and Brooke sputtered, "Jake has a baby?"

Luke didn't seem too shocked, but Clay seemed as surprised as the rest of us.

"Explains a lot," Clay nodded.

Luke laughed. "That's what I said."

I looked at the almost friendly interaction between my brother and secret boyfriend in astonishment as our little group fell silent to listen to Jake sing and play his guitar. When he was done, Brooke and Peyton went to the bathroom.

"Hey man," Luke said, turning to Clay as if he had just made a decision. "Some of the guys and I are going to the River Court to play. You and the team are welcome."

"Sure," Clay agreed immediately. "Sounds like fun."

"Yeah," Luke said, almost like he was studying Clay. "Exactly. I'm gonna go ask Nathan."

Before I could even attempt to stutter my shock at Luke not only inviting Clay, but _Nathan_ to play on the River Court, Luke headed over to where Nathan was standing with Haley.

"What the hell just happened?" I said. At Clay's laugh, I continued, "Seriously, did I step into some sort of alternate universe or something?"

"This is why I came tonight," he said. "You talk about my world and your world. But our worlds are becoming one and the same, Beth."

I watched as Luke invited Nathan, not quite knowing how I felt about it. Inviting Nathan to come play on the River Court felt like a big deal. The _River Court_ was a big deal. "We'll see," I said softly.

Gavin de Graw got announced, and I shrieked. I _loved_ him!

"How the hell did Gavin de Graw end up at open mic night?" I squealed.

"That'd be me," Peyton said, appearing beside me.

"What?"

"Ran into him and invited him," she said, then added with a laugh, "I didn't think he'd show!"

Brooke beamed at her best friend, and I couldn't help but smile back at Peyton. Maybe Clay had a point. Maybe all we knew about each other were the stereotypes. Sourpuss artist, slutty cheerleader, arrogant basketball player, attention seeking actress.

The idea that our worlds were become one and the same… was that a good thing or a bad thing?

* * *

"Good evening everyone and welcome to an historic night of basketball," Mouth announced at the River Court later that night. "I'm Mouth McFadden and tonight, this is the only game that matters."

An historic night indeed, as I watched in amazement as the River Court boys and the Ravens played against one another. I leaned against Peyton's car, with Peyton, Brooke and baby Jenny in her carrier on the bonnet, and Haley on the other side. Brooke's friendly, chirpy banter diffused any potential awkwardness, and I could tell from Peyton and Haley's interactions that the pair were becoming friends.

I glanced over at Clay, who made a basket and smiled widely at me. There was nothing I could do but smile back at him.

After the game, I headed over to Clay.

"Nice job," I said, referring to his win.

He shrugged. "It was good to play without all the pressure, you know?"

"I know," I said gently. I knew that he had been worried about Nathan, about how much stress he had been under. I looked around, checking if anyone was watching us. Clay let out a sigh, drawing my attention back to him. "What?"

"I want to make it real, Beth," he said.

"Clay," I said, taken aback.

"I don't want to hide away like we're doing something wrong," he continued. "You're my girlfriend, and I don't want to hide anymore. Everything about tonight shows you that the reasons we've been keeping it quiet don't matter. So what do you say?"

He held out his hand to me, just like he had that night he had forgiven me for freaking out over his possible past. I had accepted then without hesitation, trusting him and wanting nothing but to be with him. Now here we were, surrounded by his world and mine, meshed together for the first time.

And all I could think was, _What do I do?_


	11. You Need to Decide

**You Need to Decide**

"Morning, new friend," Brooke beamed as she bounced into my bedroom. I opened a bleary eye at her.

"What are you doing?" I groaned.

"Want to go see a movie?" she asked, taking a seat on the end of my bed.

"…maybe," I said, sitting up with a yawn. "But I always want to go see a new movie. And it's nine o'clock in the morning. You want to see a movie _now_?"

"No," she said, as if I was being silly. "First we're going to talk about you and Clay. Bay, if you will."

"Bay?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"Your couple name," she said with a nod. "Clay plus Beth equals Bay."

"Really?" I said skeptically.

"Hey, it beats Brucas," she said.

I laughed. "Brooke and Lucas?"

"You got it," she smiled. "So spill, Beth. I _did _save your ass last night, remember?"

She was right.

"_I want to make it real, Beth," he said. _

"_Clay," I said, taken aback. _

"_I don't want to hide away like we're doing something wrong," he continued. "You're my girlfriend, and I don't want to hide anymore. Everything about tonight shows you that the reasons we've been keeping it quiet don't matter. So what do you say?" _

_I had panicked, staring at the hand he held out to me like an opportunity I wasn't sure I was brave enough to take. _

"_Beth!" Brooke called, jogging over to us. "You promised me some girl time, remember?" _

_I looked at her with wide eyes, shocked that she had to have seen what had just happened between me and Clay. Actually, I was more shocked that she was trying to save me from it. _

_Clay gave a heavy sigh. "I'll call you," he said to me, clearly ready to longer hide anything about our relationship. _

_I nodded and he walked away, hands in his pockets. The smile that had been on his face all night was gone. _

"_Thanks," I said softly. _

"_So he wants to go public, huh?" Brooke said knowingly. _

"_How…"_

"_You two are not as subtle as you think you are," she said with a laugh. _

"_I should go," I said awkwardly, not ready to talk about the relationship I might have just destroyed. "Thanks, Brooke." _

"I let you go without interrogating you last night," she said. "Now seriously, just tell me. You can trust me, you know. I've known since you two have liked each other and have kept my lips zipped."

"It was supposed to be this casual thing," I blurted out. "And then he had to be all amazing and make everything harder. He's Nathan's best friend. Nathan hates me. And so will Lucas when he finds out."

"Luke's not going to hate you for dating Clay," Brooke said. "He might be mad about it being a secret, but he's dating _me _and I'm good friends with Nate. Hell, Tutor Girl is with Nathan and Luke still talks to her."

"It'll be worse coming from me," I said. "I just… this is going to come with so much drama I don't want to deal with."

"Well Actor Girl," she said with a grin. "Thought you loved the drama? You're just making it more complicated than it needs to be. Do you like Clay?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"And he clearly likes you," she said. "So there, it's all worked out. It's not Romeo and Juliet, Beth. Now hurry up and get dressed, or I'm picking the movie."

I flew out of bed, worried about the teen drama I would have to endure on the big screen if Brooke chose the movie. Then again, I could always look at the teen drama in my own life.

I was walking into school, my head in a script when I was shocked out of it by a bright and bubbly voice.

"So, talked to Clay yet?"

"God!" I exclaimed, almost jumping out of my skin. "You are everywhere lately, Brooke."

She laughed. "Maybe you're just finally noticing me," she joked.

"No, haven't spoken to Clay," I said. "Just avoided calling him all weekend. He hasn't called either, even though he said he would."

"Well, can you blame him?" she said, and although I knew she was right, it angered me.

"Thanks, Brooke," I snapped, storming off. By the time I got to my locker I already felt slightly guilty about the way I had treated her. Especially since she had started dating Luke, she had been genuinely nice to me. She had gotten me out of my depression on the Saturday by dragging me to the movies and encouraging me to talk to Clay.

I sighed as I crouched down to get to my locker. I was taking it out on her. I resolved to apologise the next time I saw her.

* * *

"See you at home," I called to Keith as I exited the garage, putting my textbook into my bag as I walked. I bumped into someone which sent the book flying.

I looked up to see Nathan. I hadn't spoken to him since the sponsor party at his house, when he had thanked me for defending him against Brooke's lie that he had shown off Haley's note to him.

"Here," he said awkwardly, handing me the book.

"Uh, thanks," I said. "What are you doing here?"

"Keith wanted to see me," he shrugged. That was weird. Once more I was reminded of our two worlds mixing. It was funny, as often as I could be reminded that Nathan and I shared the same father, I never really connected him to Keith. Dan belonged to Nathan. But Keith belonged to me, Mom and Luke.

"Okay," I said, about to walk away before abruptly changing my mind. "I saw your collapse on the court. You okay?"

He looked surprised. "Yeah, fine," he said. I nodded awkwardly, not quite sure how to act around him now he wasn't being a total ass. His time around Haley had sure changed things. "Heard about you and Clay."

"Me and Clay?" I echoed, my face reddening.

"You guys being together," he said. "Or… not official, I guess."

Okay, this was almost as bad as when Keith tried to quiz me on whether we were using protection.

"He told you?" I asked quietly. I couldn't be too mad, I guess. Brooke and Haley knew as well thanks to me.

"Wanted some advice," he said. "Thought I'd be some kind of help because I'm with Haley."

"What advice did you give him?" I asked, my arms folded. I was just waiting to hear the old Nathan come back, to put me back in my place. To tell me I in no way deserved his best friend.

"You like him?"

"No, I risked everything because I hate him," I said sarcastically.

He grinned, unbothered by my temper. It bothered me that I had the Scott temper. Luke and Mom were difficult to anger, you really had to hit the right buttons with those two. Me? I could see the similarities between me and Dan and Nathan that I really didn't like.

"Just talk to him," Nathan advised, walking into the garage. I stared at the back of him, feeling quite unnerved. That was the very first actual conversation we had ever had. We had actually managed to be civil – and he had been even a little supportive about me and Clay.

I looked up instinctively to see if pigs were flying.

* * *

Basketball was back off hiatus, and I knew Clay would be there. So I attempted to swallow my pride and headed for the gym after Drama Club. Practice was still in session, but I was aware of Clay's gaze on me from the moment I walked in.

Cheerleading practice had finished, so I headed over to my brother's girlfriend to apologise. Brooke accepted my apology with a wave of her hand.

"Kinda made me like you," she said with a smirk. "We seem to have that inner bitch in common."

I couldn't help but laugh. We were actually kind of becoming friends, I realised. This year was just getting weirder and weirder.

I chatted with Brooke until basketball practice was over, and she gave me a knowing wink as I headed over to Clay. Luke had already disappeared into the showers, thankfully. I didn't want him knowing like this.

"Hey," Clay panted. Whitey had really pushed them hard.

"Hey," I said. "Do you want to talk later or…"

"You make up your mind?" he interrupted. He looked like he was in a terrible mood.

"I've missed you," I began.

"Great," he said, starting to walk away. This took me by surprise. I hadn't seen this side of him before, so moody and clearly angry about something.

"Clay!" I exclaimed.

He turned. "Nathan's not here, Beth," he said, and I could tell by his tone this was a big deal. "Basketball was supposed to be our ticket out of here. You know what? You're right, let's talk later."

He disappeared into the locker room and I stood there, stunned.

"Hey, you okay?" Brooke asked gently.

"I think I ruined it," I said, feeling like I was about to cry.

* * *

Luke was out with Brooke for dinner, so Keith and I were eating at the café. Deb had given me a friendly greeting that I'd had no choice but to return. Keith seemed happy with me for giving her that, though. I had been doing the books at the café, but thankfully Deb kept the small talk to a minimum.

I pushed my food around my plate, my mind thinking about what had happened that afternoon.

"Since when don't you inhale your burger?" Keith asked. He had a point.

"Not that hungry," I said quietly.

"You wanna talk about it?" he said, taking a sip of his beer.

I shrugged. "Clay wanted to make it real. I panicked. I think he now hates me."

"Did he tell you it's over?" he asked.

"No,"

"Did he tell you he hates you?"

"No,"

"Then go tell the boy you wanna be with him," Keith said, as if it was the most obvious solution in the world. "I know you're worried about what Luke will think. He'll get over it. You clearly, won't."

"What's going on with Nathan?" I blurted out, almost instantly regretting it.

Keith raised an eyebrow. "So I did see you two having a civil conversation out the front of the garage, then?"

"He said you wanted to talk to him," I said. "And Clay was really upset because he wasn't at practice."

"Deb and Dan are going through a rough patch," he said. I could understand that. It would be hard to be married to the devil. "So is Nathan. He doesn't know if he wants to keep playing basketball."

"Wow," I said, shocked. I didn't know much about him, but even I knew how dedicated he was to basketball. No wonder Clay was stressing out about it.

Keith studied me for a moment.

"What?" I asked self-consciously.

"Nothing," he said with a smile. "Eat up, will ya?"

I took a bite suspiciously, wondering where that smile had come from.

* * *

The next day, I tried to work up the nerve to talk to Clay again and failed. I didn't know what it was about this boy. He was the only person who could muddle me up so much. I wasn't sure if I liked that feeling.

I joined Luke on a trip to the café. He wanted to catch up with Haley, I wanted to catch up with a burger considering my appetite had been so low the night before. I was heading for the part of my depression where I ate everything in sight. Lovely.

"What happened to you?" Luke asked bluntly as we sat at the counter. Haley looked a wreck, hair messy and sour expression on her face.

"Nice to see you, too," she said dully as she cleaned the counter.

"Missed you in sixth period," Luke said.

"Yeah, I kind of skipped," Haley said.

"Haley James!" I said, slightly impressed.

Luke gave me a look, before turning and giving Haley a similar one.

"You can get your jaw off the floor now," she said wryly.

"He's got you skipping school," he said, not impressed at all.

"Lucas, talk to me when you get your tattoo removed," Haley said, walking away before I could order.

I snickered quietly at her comment, which was definitely true. I didn't laugh quietly enough as Luke shot me another look.

"Oh come on, Luke," I said. "Haley's a big girl. Nathan's not going to force her into doing something she doesn't want to do."

"Great, _you're_ defending Nathan now?" he said sourly.

"You're dating one of his good friends," I snapped. "And if Brooke can change, why can't he?" _Why can't Clay?_

"Not the same thing," he said with annoyance.

I got up and walked out, suddenly furious.

"What happened to your burger craving?" Luke called.

"Suddenly not so hungry," I snapped. I walked, not really sure where I was going.

_Stupid Luke, not even thinking that they could change, _I thought angrily, and then froze. Luke wasn't the one not giving Clay a chance here. _Stupid Beth_, I thought, my feet suddenly driving me to Clay's house.

I knocked on his front door anxiously and was taken aback when Clay's father answered.

"Hello," he said, looking at me suspiciously. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, is Clay home?" I asked awkwardly. For all the time I had been spending at the Evans house lately, this was the first encounter I had had with his dad. He nodded curtly, and called up the stairs, "Clayton, you have a visitor."

He walked away without another word to me, and Clay bounded down the stairs a moment later. He looked surprised to see me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, folding his arms.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

"Are you embarrassed by me?" he said bluntly.

I almost laughed. "I think you have that one the wrong way around. Why would I be embarrassed by _you_?"

"Or you just don't like me then?" he said. "I thought we were together, Beth."

"We are," I said. "I'm sorry, okay? I just… I don't care what Lucas thinks. I don't. And shockingly I don't think Nathan's going to give you a hard time either."

"Did you talk to Nathan?" Clay asked, his eyes wide.

I rolled my eyes. "It was barely a minute long, but yes. You told him and he didn't freak?"

He smiled. "Yeah, he actually got it. Okay, so if it's not embarrassment or about Nathan or Lucas, it's about you and your commitment issues."

"You might be right on that one," I admitted, and he let out a laugh.

"Wow," he said. "Beth Scott admitting I'm right?"

"Enjoy it while it lasts," I said wryly. "You'll find it happens rarely."

"So you're sticking around then?" he said.

"If I haven't completely fucked this all up," I said. "Let's do it."

I leaned my forehead against his, Clay's hands automatically found my waist. I kissed him softly, and he hugged me close.

"You're not going to change your mind, are you?" he said teasingly, but I could sense the genuine concern underneath.

"You've got me, Clay Evans," I said, and he grinned widely. "I don't know you do this. You just forgive me so easily, for when I freaked out after our date, for when I freaked out when you wanted to make this real."

"You freak out," he said. "But you keep coming back. We all have issues, Beth. I didn't know how Nathan was going to react. I didn't risk losing my best friend if I wasn't going to fight for this."

I kissed him, not knowing what else to say. Thankfully, he seemed to understand, kissing me back.

* * *

I went to the River Court, not to find distractions, but hoping to find Skills or Lucas there. I wanted to tell them straight away what the world would find out the following day.

Instead, I found Nathan.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, and he turned around with a surprised expression.

"I forget you play," he said.

"Most do," I said drily. "I'm not part of the 'Scott basketball dynasty'," I referenced that stupid article that had talked about Luke being part of the Scott family legacy.

"Yeah, well, neither am I anymore," he said.

"You're really quitting," I said in surprise.

"Thought Clay would have told you," he said. "Unless you still haven't made up?"

"Really thought he would be the one to tell you," I said. "But yeah, we've made it real."

"Good," he said, shooting a basket.

"Really?" I said skeptically. I still didn't quite trust Nathan, even if he had seemed to change from Haley's influence.

"He really likes you," he said. "I didn't want to be the reason you held back from him."

I looked at him for a long moment, trying to figure him out.

"Beth? Nathan?" Luke's voice said across the court. I turned to face him, and was struck by the difference of the last time it was just the three of us – when Nathan had confronted Luke about being on the team, challenging him to the one on one game. I couldn't reconcile the image I had of that Nathan, who wanted to put me and my twin in 'our place', with this Nathan who didn't want to be the reason that Clay and I weren't together.

"I was looking for you," Nathan said, walking up to Luke.

"Me too," I said softly, and Luke nodded, signalling our argument from earlier was already forgotten. I supposed it was lucky that only one of us had a temper.

"I'm done," Nathan said. "Thought you'd want to know. You wanted my world, man," he said, bouncing the ball to Luke. "You got it."

There was no anger or resentment as Nathan walked away.

"Congrats anyway, Beth," he said, and Luke turned to me looking confused.

"Congrats for what?"

"I've kind of been keeping something from you," I said slowly. "I'm dating Clay Evans."


	12. Falling Into Place

**Falling Into Place**

"Clay Evans?" Lucas echoed. "You're dating Clay Evans?"

"Yes," I said, nervous but holding my ground. To my complete and utter disbelief, Luke let out a laugh.

"Clay's alright," he said.

"Wait, what?" I said, shocked. "You weren't exactly happy when we were just talking."

"A lot's changed since then," he reminded me. "Clay and I aren't friends or anything, but the whole team is cool now."

"But I thought you'd stop speaking to me," I blurted out.

Luke's amused expression softened into an affectionate one. "You're my little sister," he said.

"By barely five minutes," I said automatically.

"As long as he treats you right," he shrugged. "Besides, I _am_ dating Brooke. Be a bit hypocritical if I judged you for dating Clay. He seems to have changed. And you seem the same Beth as ever."

"Okay, all of these were supposed to be _my _argument to convince _you_," I said with a laugh. I was so relieved.

"Wanna play?" Luke offered, bouncing the basketball Nathan had given him.

I stole the ball and shot a basket, cracking my brother up and starting an intense game.

* * *

I received a similar speech from Skills the next morning, the whole 'as long as he treats you right he lives' kind of thing, with a hint of 'I told you so' throughout.

We played a quick game at the River Court where he 'let me win' and I headed to the café to work on the books. Haley greeted me with a wave as she waited the tables, coming over with a coffee for me during a lull.

"So, I heard the good news," she said. "You and Clay, official at last."

I put down my pen and laughed. "If the words 'double date' comes out of your mouth, I may have to kill you."

She grinned. "I really am happy for you guys," she said genuinely.

"Thanks, Hales," I said as she went to clear a table of dishes.

I barely noticed a customer that came in until he mentioned he was looking for Karen. I looked up to see an old guy, probably in his sixties, that I'd never seen before.

"She's in Italy right now," Haley said as she poured a coffee. "Cooking school."

"Good for her," he said, looking pleased. "How're those kids of hers doing?"

"Beth's right there," Haley indicated over to me, and the man's gaze quickly turned to me.

"Beth," he said, looking stunned.

"Hi," I said curiously, standing up. "You're friends with my mom?"

"Yeah, an old friend," he said. His gaze remained fixed on me, like he couldn't quite believe his eyes. It was a little unnerving.

"Sorry, what was your name?" I asked.

He started. "Just an old friend, I'll come by and see her next time I'm in town," he said quickly, turning to leave. He paused and looked back at me. "It was real nice to meet you, Beth."

Before I could reply, he was gone.

"Who was that guy?" I wondered to Haley, who just shrugged. I spotted Deb, who avoided my gaze and went back into the kitchen. Suddenly suspicious, I followed her out the back.

"Hey Deb," I said. "Did you know who that guy was?"

She paused, and then sighed. "Yes," she said. "That's Dan's father, so your grandfather."

I stared at her for a long moment. "Dan's father is friends with my mom?" I said incredulously. Luke and I had never met the grandparents on that side, and Mom's parents had died when we were pretty young.

"That one came as a surprise to me too," she said. "Are you okay?"

"Sure," I squeaked. "Why wouldn't I be? I should get back to the books…"

"Beth," she said gently, but I quickly returned to the books, ignoring Haley's curious glances.

* * *

As soon as I was done I headed straight for the garage. I desperately needed to talk to Keith about this. He had to know if his parents had been in contact with my mom over the years.

"What's wrong?" was the first thing out of Keith's mouth, and I realised how crazy I must have looked as I rushed in.

"Your dad came by the café," I rambled. "Well, Deb said it was your dad, and he was looking for Mom. And he stared at me and it was weird and he said he was old friends with Mom, did you know he was old friends with Mom?"

"Okay," Keith said. "Take a breath, kiddo."

I inhaled sharply. "Do your parents keep in contact with Mom?"

"If they do it's the first I've heard of it," Keith said, and I relaxed slightly. "But I did hear they were in town for Dan's birthday. I'm going over there for dinner tonight."

A part of me hated that. Keith was supposed to be part of _our _family, not theirs.

"Right," I said quietly. "Do they think the same as Dan? That Luke and I…"

"You and Luke and your mom are pretty much taboo topics in our family," Keith said gently. "They know you exist, they know I'm friends with your mom…"

"You're part of the family, Keith," I corrected him, and he smiled.

"Right," he agreed. "But none of that ever gets discussed. My dad… he's pretty similar to Dan."

"Well," I said. "That just makes me even more grateful that they've kept their distance. Sorry I freaked."

"I get it," he said. "The whole situation is messed up."

"So true," I agreed with a sigh.

* * *

"You okay?" Clay asked, looking concerned. We were at the café eating dinner, and I'd been more than a little distracted.

"I'm fine," I said automatically.

"Beth," he said, in a tone that suggested he knew I was lying.

I sighed. "Have you met Nathan's grandparents?" I asked, and he knew I didn't mean Deb's parents.

"Yeah," he said. "You heard they were in town, huh?"

"Keith's at Dan's birthday dinner," I said. "And… he came by the café today. Dan's dad."

"Really?" Clay said in surprise. "He wasn't an ass to you, was he?"

"No, he seemed more stunned than anything to see me," I said. "Keith did say he's pretty similar to Dan though. It's just… he said he was old friends with my mom. I wonder if they kept in contact over the years."

"So you'd never met them?" Clay asked cautiously. My family issues were not something we really discussed. It wasn't really something I discussed with anybody, really.

"Not til today," I shrugged. "Whatever. It just makes me wonder."

"Wonder what?"

"Wonder if they think like Dan does," I said, and Clay put his hand over mine. "Sorry I'm such a downer. How's having your dad home?"

"So from one depressing subject to another?" Clay laughed. "Just waiting for him to go away again. It's better on both of us when he does."

"Is it really that bad?" I said sympathetically.

"I remind him of my mom," Clay shrugged. "But I'd rather be like my mom than him, anyway."

I sensed from his tone he didn't want to keep talking about it.

"So," I said. "I'm feeling a sudden need for ice cream. You in?"

Clay grinned. "Hell yes," he said.

* * *

I arrived home to find a message from Lucas on the machine. My hand flew to my mouth as he said that Peyton's dad may have died. I might not have been her biggest fan, but she didn't deserve to lose another parent. Nobody did.

I changed into my pyjamas and was searching through my DVD collection for a movie to watch when Keith arrived home.

"Hey," he said, looking exhausted.

"Ugh, was it that bad?" I said with a grimace.

"Makes me glad I have this family," he said, taking a seat on my bed. "Just… lots of drama. Where's Luke?"

I filled him in on the Peyton situation, and Keith shook his head. "Well, we can only hope it's not her dad," he said sadly.

"Yeah," I agreed softly. "You wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure," he said. "You pick. The less drama, the better though."

"Got it," I smiled. "You go make the popcorn, I'll pick a non-drama filled movie."

* * *

Peyton's dad was okay, we were all relieved to hear. The next day at school, I approached her at her locker.

"Hey," I said, and she looked at me in surprise. I didn't seek out her company normally, to say the least.

"Hey," she said.

"I'm glad your dad's okay," I said.

"Thanks," she said, with a small but genuine smile.

Brooke beamed at me. "Looks who's becoming all nice," she teased, and I laughed. Luke walked up and wrapped an arm around Brooke.

"Hey Beth," Clay called, and I smiled at him.

"Hey—" I began, but was cut off his enthusiastic kiss.

"I've been wanting to do that for ages," he said with a wide smile, and I couldn't help but laugh at the stunned expressions of most of the people around us.

"Well it's all real now," I said. The weirdest thing about having just kissed Clay in front of everyone, of standing beside Brooke and Lucas and even Peyton, was that it wasn't even weird anymore. "Like two worlds colliding," I said to Clay, and he grinned.

"Told you so," he said, and Lucas even gave him a nod despite how he had just made out with sister. "Walk you to class?"

"Sure."

* * *

My eyes widened as Clay excitedly pulled comic book after comic book. We were seated on the floor of his bedroom for my official comic book introduction. Apparently it was necessary when dating Clay to learn all about this stuff.

"First things first in your education," he said. "These are graphic novels, not comic books."

I nodded, trying to hold back my smile. He was being so serious.

"So the essentials to get you started…" he began, pulling his sweatshirt off and revealing the most ugly t-shirt I had ever seen. I let out a howl of laughter. "What?"

"_What_ are you wearing_?_"

"What? I like this shirt," he said defensively.

"I have not once seen you wear that at school," I said. "So clearly you know it will be mocked."

"Do you want me to wear this to school?" he teased. "I'll even write 'Beth Scott's Boyfriend' across the back, just so everyone knows who I belong to."

"No," I said quickly. "In fact, you should burn it. Seriously."

"Never," he declared. "Now can we get back to this?" he indicated to the comic books stacked between us.

"Did you keep all your weirdness secret until _after_ I became your girlfriend?" I asked. "Because when we were hooking up, I don't remember any comic books –"

"Graphic novels," he corrected me.

"Or ugly shirts," I finished.

"I'm a weird dude," he said with zero shame. I couldn't help but smile at him. He really wasn't like any other guy in Tree Hill. "And I made the occasional comic book reference. Just to sound you out."

"Oh, really?" I said, amused. "You know, weird just happens to be my thing," I teased, crawling around the pile of comic books and into his lap.

"Well then baby, you should see me when I'm dancing around the house in my underwear," he grinned.

I laughed. "Please do," I said, kissing him. He shifted me so I was straddling him, but before anything good could really happen, a throat cleared at the door.

We pulled away to see Nathan at the door, pointedly looking away from us. "When you two are done, I need to talk to Clay," he said, walking out.

"Your friend sucks," I pouted.

"He's _your _brother," Clay reminded me.

I rolled my eyes. "You're just lucky it wasn't Luke. He takes his big brother role very seriously, even if it is only by a few minutes."

He pecked my lips and went to see what Nathan wanted. With a sigh, I picked up a Superman comic book. I had been so close to turning comic book day into sexy times.

He returned with a thoughtful expression, which quickly turned to delight when he saw the comic in my hands.

"So hot," he muttered, kissing me.

I laughed. "What did Nathan want?"

"He's back on the team," he said, and I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know. But I think it's a good thing. Nate needs basketball. He's a hell of a player."

I nodded.

"So you excited for your mom coming home tomorrow?"

"Yes," I admitted with a wide smile. "Six weeks is too long for Mom to be gone. And it feels like we need to catch up on a lot."

"Oh, yeah?" he said. "Perhaps about a devastatingly handsome boyfriend?"

"Nope, just the geeky one," I teased, and he launched himself at me, tickling me. "Clay, stop!" I laughed.

"Say I'm devastatingly handsome," he commanded.

"Never!" I shrieked with laughter.

* * *

I went into Luke's room, keeping an eye out for Keith. He was watching some football, but I was paranoid.

"Hey," Luke said, looking at me with amusement.

"Hey," I said, closing his door.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Do you think Keith will finally make a move?" I asked.

"I hope so," he said.

"I am dying," I bounced up and down. "Seriously, if one of them doesn't make a move soon, I will actually die."

"Dramatic much?" Luke teased.

"Like you don't want them to get together just as much as I do," I retorted.

"That's true," he agreed.

"We just have to pep him up," I decided.

"Really?" Luke groaned.

"Lucas, they would be lost without us," I informed him. "Now let's make this happen!"

* * *

"Ooooh, flowers?" I said with an approving nod as I walked into the kitchen the following afternoon.

"For your mom," Keith said. "Think she'll like it?"

"She'll love it," I said with a wide grin. He went to open a beer. "Nope," I said, swiping it away from him. "You don't want beer breath when you kiss her, do you?"

"Why do you think I'll be kissing her?" he asked.

"Keith, I love you," I said. "But you're not the quickest in making a move. So, let's put our games faces on and make this happen!"

"Wow," he said with a smile. "So I don't need to check to see if you're okay with me and your mom maybe starting something?"

"Do we need to plan?" I asked. "Or are we going for a spontaneous, sweep her off her feet kind of thing?"

"You and Luke will be there," he reminded me. "I doubt you want to see me sweeping your mom off her feet."

"Hell, just kiss her," I insisted, and he laughed.

I was so excited. Keith was already a part of our family, but the idea of him getting together with Mom was just perfect. Like how life should be.

* * *

"I've never seen you so bouncy," Clay said with a smile. He had dropped by for a quick visit before I went with Luke and Keith to pick up Mom.

"I've missed her," I said. "Plus… I think by the end of the night Mom and Keith will actually be together. Finally."

"That's awesome," Clay said, knowing how much I'd been wanting this to happen.

"Come by tomorrow," I said. "I really want you to meet my mom, and even Keith at a time when our tongues aren't down each other's throats."

Clay laughed. "Sure, I'll come by around lunch?"

"Perfect," I beamed, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I love you, Clay."

He stared at me for a moment, and kissed me passionately. I wasn't mad at him for not saying it back, I just genuinely wanted him to know. Everything was falling into place.

* * *

I bounced around in the back seat, unbuckling my seatbelt so I could lean forward between Keith and Luke.

"You guys excited to see your mom?" Keith smiled.

"Yeah," Luke and I said simultaneously, then laughed.

"Seems like just yesterday I was kissing her goodbye at the airport," Keith said, and my jaw dropped.

"You were kissing Mom?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I was saying goodbye," Keith said nonchalantly.

"Oh my God, Keith!" I squealed. "That is awesome. Nice job!"

"Just keep the PDA to a minimum," Luke grinned.

"Ignore him," I advised Keith. "If you want to kiss Mom when you see her, you kiss her."

My brother and uncle laughed.

"Hey Luke, think maybe you can keep that tattoo covered up for a while, like say, the rest of your life?" Keith suggested.

"It's not you she's gonna kill," I said. "It's Luke."

"Thanks, little sister," Luke said wryly.

"I know these past six weeks weren't all smooth sailing," Keith said. "But whatever your mom wants us to be, I just want you two to know that…"

"Love you too, Keith," Luke said, and I leaned forward to give Keith a peck on the cheek.

"Seatbelt on, Beth," Keith instructed, and I did as I was told with a roll of my eyes. I would be so thankful for my uncle and his caution later, because in the next moment we were slammed into by a car and the world was enveloped by black.


	13. Waiting

**Waiting**

I woke up sluggishly, wincing at the pain in my head. Everything was muddled. I didn't know where I was or how I got there but everything felt so sore.

"Beth?"

I turned my head to see Keith was beside me, with stitches in his head. We were in a hospital, I slowly realised.

"Keith?" I whispered. "What happened?"

"We were in a car accident," he said gently. "You hit your head pretty bad. I'll go get the doctor."

The doctor said I had a concussion, and would be sore for a few days. They were keeping me overnight for observation.

"Where's Luke?" I asked, as the memories slowly returned to me. We had been on the way to the airport, and my brother had been in the car with us.

"He's in surgery," Keith said. "He was hurt pretty bad."

My eyes filled with tears. Not Luke. I couldn't bear the thought of losing him. My twin brother, who had always been there for me, who had accepted so easily that I was seeing Clay all because I was his little sister. "Does Mom know?"

"She's on her way," he confirmed.

"I should call Brooke," I murmured, slightly dazed, and Keith passed me my phone, which he had in his pocket.

"Hey Beth," she answered, bubbly as ever.

"Brooke, we were in an accident," I said.

"Oh my God," she murmured. "Are you guys okay?"

"Luke's in surgery," I said. "You should come. And can you bring Clay?"

"Of course, I'll get Clay and we'll be there soon, I promise," she said quickly, and we hang up.

"He'll be okay, won't he?" I asked Keith, and at his worried expression I hugged him tightly, trying to hold myself together as much as I was trying to hold him together.

* * *

"Beth! Keith!" Mom said, rushing into my hotel room and wrapping her arms around the both of us at the same time. "I'm so glad you two are okay."

"You cut your hair," I said sleepily. My brain was still all muddled.

"She has a concussion," Keith explained.

Mom touched my shoulder gently, as if I could break. "You okay?" her frantic tone opposed her gentle touch.

"I'll be fine," I said. "As long as Lucas is."

"Where is Lucas?"

"I'm so sorry, Karen, I didn't see…" Keith began to apologise.

"Where's the operating room?" Mom interrupted, in full mother lion mode. "I need someone to tell me what's happening."

"They know we're in Beth's room," Keith said, trying to calm her down. "They will let us know when he's in recovery."

"I couldn't get a cab and then the only thing I had to pay with was euros," Mom said, freaking out and on the verge of tears. "He's got to be all right. I can't lose him, I can't."

Keith grabbed a doctor that was walking by the room. "Excuse me doctor, were you in the operating room with Lucas Scott?"

"He was in a car accident, he's my son," Mom said quickly.

"Dr Hale is an excellent surgeon," the doctor said. "The kid's lucky his father got him here so fast."

"His uncle," I spoke up.

"No, his father," the doctor corrected me. "He may have saved Lucas' life."

The doctor nodded and continued on his way.

"Dan was here?" I said in confusion.

"Yeah," Keith said, and Mom and I both waited for his explanation. "Dan saw the accident and he pulled Beth and Lucas from the car and drove us here."

"Dan?" Mom said in shock.

"Surprised he didn't just leave us in there," I said bitterly.

"Beth," Mom warned, but there was no heat in it.

"Luke was in bad shape, and you were unconscious," Keith said. "The surgery couldn't wait for Luke and Dan gave the surgeon permission to operate."

"How could he?" Mom asked, bewildered.

"He said he was Lucas' father," Keith said, and my jaw dropped.

"He said _what_?" I managed to say, when Brooke and Clay burst into the room.

"Is he okay?" Brooke cried.

"Are you okay?" Clay asked, immediately by my side.

"Honey, we don't know yet," Keith said to Brooke.

"I'm fine," I said, and Clay took my hand, holding it against his chest. I could feel the panicked beat of his heart. "I promise."

"I was supposed to see Luke tonight," Brooke said tearfully, while Mom seemed torn between looking at Brooke and seeing me with Clay. "He was supposed to come home right after the airport."

"Mom, this is Brooke and Clay," I spoke up.

"I'm Brooke, Lucas' girlfriend, hi," she said. Mom turned to Clay, who was pale and barely able to take his worried gaze off me.

"Beth's boyfriend," he said, and before Mom could take much more, a doctor entered the room.

"Is my son okay?" Mom asked.

"He's stable and in recovery," the doctor said, and the room let out a collective sigh of relief. "He needed a lot of work. His right lung collapsed and had to be repaired. I had to remove his spleen, but there shouldn't be any long term repercussions."

"You're saying he's going to be fine?" Mom asked.

The doctor nodded and I rested my head on Clay's shoulder, intensely relieved. I didn't know what I would do in a world that didn't have Lucas in it. Brooke stood beside Clay, holding his arm tightly.

"He'll need physical therapy for his shoulder," the doctor continued. "It separated in the crash but we were able to reset it. Other than that, he has a concussion and some bruising. But there was a complication during surgery. Your son lost a lot of blood which caused his heart rate to drop. We lost him for a second. But as I said, he's stable now and all of his vitals look good. We just have to wait for him to wake up."

I felt like I was going to be sick when she said she had lost Luke.

"He's okay," Clay murmured, one arm around me and the other around Brooke.

"When will that be?" Mom asked the doctor.

"Could be a couple of hours, could be a couple of days," the doctor said. "That's up to him."

Keith hugged Mom tightly as Brooke and I held onto Clay. I didn't know if I could take waiting for my twin to wake up.

* * *

Mom had refused to let me out of bed to go see Luke.

"You can go tomorrow when you're not under observation for a concussion," she said sternly. "Keith and I will alternate between you two…"

"Mom, I'm fine," I insisted, even though my brain was still slightly muddled.

"I have to go hand in some insurance paperwork," she said, then looked at Clay. "Can I trust you to make sure she doesn't leave this bed?"

"Yes, ma'am," Clay nodded. "I know how stubborn she can be."

Mom smiled slightly, for the first time all night. I scowled as Mom left. Brooke arrived with some coffee, giving Mom one for her and one for Keith. It was just family to see Luke for the moment, so Brooke was pretty much camping out in my room alongside Clay. It was clear how devoted she was to Luke.

Though, I thought, as I looked at my own boyfriend as his hand remained tightly around mine, Clay was pretty devoted too.

* * *

The following morning I was released, and immediately went to see Luke. He was still unconscious, and I stood beside him, staring down at his still body with wide eyes. Brooke and Clay trailed behind me, Brooke's eyes widened and shined with tears as she saw him.

"He'll be okay," I said, putting my arm around her.

"I'm sorry," she said, wiping her eyes. "You're his sister and you're not falling apart…"

"Hey," I said. "You love him, Brooke. It's okay."

I hugged her tightly and I felt Clay's hand on my back, gently supporting me.

Clay and Brooke went home for showers, while I remained by Luke's side. I was reading aloud from a Steinbeck novel when Peyton came in.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hi," I replied.

"Glad you're okay," she said.

"Thanks," I replied. "You here to see Luke?" at her nod, I said, "I'll give you guys some time."

I was waiting out the front of his room a few minutes later when Mom came up with food in her hands.

"Peyton's in there with him," I said at Mom's questioning look. "Where'd the food come from?"

"Deb," she said by way of explanation.

"She did a good job," I said. "With the café."

Mom looked at me with surprise. "You've changed your tune. And speaking of changes, you have a new boyfriend."

I smiled softly. "He's the best," I said softly. "And Brooke's pretty amazing too. I've somehow become friends with her."

"Well, things did change when I was away," Mom said softly.

"Some didn't," I said, nodding at Keith who was walking up to us. Satisfied by the faint blush on my mother's cheeks, we walked into the room. Peyton and Mom talked while Keith and I walked over to Luke.

"He'll be up soon," Keith said reassuringly, his arm around me.

"Hope so," I murmured.

"Hey stranger," Brooke said to Peyton as she walked into the room, overloaded with gifts. I walked over to Brooke, smiling at the amount of teddy bears.

"Nice," I commented, and Brooke smiled.

"I dropped so much cash at the gift shop, I think they're gonna name it after me," she said. "And I got something for Beth and Karen. Nothing makes me feel better when I'm blue than chocolate and I figured we couldn't be in a better place if we dipped into a sugar coma so…"

Peyton and I stared at Brooke incredulously as Mom and Keith looked uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot," Brooke said, realising she had just made a joke about a coma beside a coma patient.

"It's okay, Brooke," Mom said, and I put my hand on her arm reassuringly. She gripped my hand tightly for a moment, giving me a small smile before heading over to give Luke a kiss on the cheek. Peyton left and Keith stood behind Mom, his hands resting on her shoulders.

"Where's Haley?" I asked curiously. "Did I miss her coming by?"

"She and Luke had a fight," Mom said. "But I'm sure she'll be by soon."

I frowned. I wondered how big this fight had to have been to keep Haley away from Luke like this.

* * *

It wasn't until that night that Haley showed up with Peyton beside her. Keith was on a coffee run, Mom was asleep holding Luke's hand. Clay had only just left, having spent most of the day with us in the hospital room. He got along really well with Keith, much to my surprise. They had a similar sense of humour.

Haley stared at Luke for a long moment, before rushing out again. I quickly followed after her, joining her and Peyton in the hall.

"Haley,"

'I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't even call… Deb said you were okay and…"

"It's fine," I assured her. "What's going on? You and Luke had a fight?"

"Yeah," she exhaled, giving Peyton a quick glance. "I just… I said some things I really regret."

"Hales, you know Luke could never stay mad at you," I said softly. "It'll be okay."

"He's lying in there and there's nothing I can do about it," she said.

"You can be there for him," Peyton spoke up. "Go talk to him. You'll feel better."

"I don't deserve to feel better," Haley said. "Me giving him an apology is not worth anything if he's not awake to hear it."

"Haley…" I said, shocked.

"I can't," she said, walking away. I was torn between staying beside Luke and going after Haley.

"I'll go," Peyton said, clearly seeing my predicament.

"Thanks," I said genuinely, going back into Luke's room. "You need to wake up, Luke. We miss you."

* * *

While I was in the bathroom the following day, Mom, Keith and Clay were in cahoots and ready for me when I came out. I was getting beyond tired. Mom, Keith and I hadn't left the hospital since the accident. Luke had had heaps of visitors. Whitey, Jake, Skills (who scolded me for only sending him a text), and all the River Court boys all came by to check in on him.

"Right, so Clay is taking you home," Mom said, taking charge.

"No, he's not," I said firmly.

"You are to have a shower and a meal before we see you again," Keith added. I scowled at him. Damn this united couple front they had going on. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled at how they had become even closer throughout this whole ordeal, but using the whole united team front on me was killing me.

"I can't leave him," I insisted.

"You need a break," Clay said.

"Why? Mom and Keith haven't left," I said, arms folded.

"You look like you're about to keel over," Keith said bluntly.

"Charming," I scowled.

"Home, shower, meal," Mom said firmly. "Bonus points for a nap."

Before I could argue further, Clay's arm was around me and he was guiding me out. I remained silent in the car ride home.

"You mad at me?" he asked.

"No," I sighed. "I just… I don't want to be away from Luke. So while I shower, you make me a sandwich or something. Then we're out of there."

"You ordered pizza?" I said with a frown.

Clay held his hands up in innocence. "You love pizza."

"I don't love the delivery time," I countered. "Not when a sandwich takes two seconds."

"Well, we have to wait now," he shrugged. I took a seat beside him on the couch, cuddling into him. For the first time since the accident, my body started to relax.

Clay flicked through the stations, and my eyes slowly started to close. Just as I was almost asleep, Clay murmured, "I love you."

"Love you," I answered, drifting off to sleep.

I awoke abruptly three hours later.

"Oh my God!" I shrieked. "How could you let me sleep?"

"You needed it," he said firmly. "Want some cold pizza?"

"Damn it," I muttered. "Yeah, I really do. But we're eating it in the car!"

On the way to the hospital, I called Mom and she let me know Luke still hadn't woken up. She was pleased that I had slept, eaten and showered, and when I arrived she looked as tired as I had looked when I had been sent home. Clay had dropped me off at the hospital, and I suspected he needed a good sleep as well.

"Mom," I said softly. "You should go home get some rest." At Keith's snore from the other side of Luke, I added, "Both of you."

"I can't," she said simply. "I just… I can't. You and Lucas are everything to me, Beth. I sent you home with Clay because I needed you to be looked after while I have to focus on Luke."

"Mom, I'm fine," I said.

"Thank God for that," she said, hugging me tightly. "But I don't think any of us will be fine until Luke is awake."

I nodded, determined not to cry. "He'll wake up soon, won't he?" my voice sounded very small, like I was little again.

"You heard the doctor," she said, in that reassuring way only moms could. "He'll be fine, Beth."

As I sat beside Luke, across from Mom and Keith, I couldn't help but note where I had gotten my own stubbornness from as the pair remained by Luke's side waiting for him to awaken.

* * *

The following morning, Keith had his arm around Mom as she read to Luke from the sports section of the paper, and I dozed with my head on Luke's shoulder, comforted by the steady beat of his heart.

"Let's see, Lebron James is first among rookies in points and assists per game. Carmelo Anthony's second." Mom read.

"You a big basketball fan?" Brooke asked as she entered the room. I opened a bleary eye to see she had a poster board under one arm.

"It's important to Lucas so I like to try and keep up," Mom said. "Just like I somehow know the winners of the Oscars for the past decade thanks to Beth."

"Important information," I interjected, rubbing my eyes.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Brooke said, taking down a marine life picture off the wall to put up her poster board. "I'm suffering through Salinger for him. Would it kill a guy to read a little Jackie Collins?"

"You make that, Brooke?" Keith asked, nodding at the board. I walked over to take a look.

"Yeah," Brooke smiled. It had 'Get Well Soon' written on it, alongside basketball pictures, pictures of Luke and Brooke and a cheerleading Brooke. "I figured it'd be nice for Lucas to have when he wakes up."

"It's awesome, Brooke," I said.

"Thanks, Beth," she grinned. "This is us at a Bear Creek game, and those are the coasters from the place where I kicked his butt playing pool."

"Nothing from the tattoo parlour," Mom said, and I looked quickly over at Keith. He nodded – she had spotted it.

"Okay, that's totally on me," Brooke admitted. "He's just so serious all the time. I thought a tattoo might lighten him up."

I slowly backed away, wary of the wrath of Karen. It took a lot for it to be unleashed, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"And you couldn't take him to a comedy?" Mom asked, and I stifled a laugh. Keith elbowed me, but I could see the smirk on his face.

"So you're not a big tattoo fan?" Brooke said.

"Not on my son, no," Mom said, then glanced at me. "Or daughter, for that matter."

"Still tattoo free, I promise," I said quickly.

"I'm sorry," Brooke apologised. "Honestly, I think I could probably set myself on fire and my mom wouldn't notice, so it's kind of hard for me to remember that some moms would."

Wow, that actually explained a lot about Brooke.

* * *

Skills dropped by for a visit later that afternoon.

"How's Luke?" he asked.

"Same," I said softly. "How's things?"

He showed me a picture on his phone. "Everybody's been down, Beth, showing how they feel about Luke."

There were various photos of the River Court, completely made over in chalk with messages from what seemed like nearly every person at school wishing for Luke to be better soon. "Wow," I said, honestly touched. "That's amazing."

"He'll be okay," he said, giving me a hug.

"I know," I said, my voice muffled as I buried my head into my best friend's shoulder. "I just wish he wasn't taking his sweet ass time about it."

Skills laughed. "You got that right."

* * *

I was on the millionth coffee run with Keith when Deb dropped some food off for dinner. We ate with Brooke, and Mom and Keith dozed off in their hospital chairs not long after.

"So I hear you're liking the Salinger…" I said, opening the novel Brooke had brought by. "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth…"

"Hey," I looked up in surprise to see Nathan walking in.

"Hey," I said softly. I looked at Luke, still so still. "Did you want me to go…"

"No," he said. "You can stay, if you want. I just wanted to talk to Luke."

"Sure," I said, putting the novel down. I was kind of curious as to what had brought Nathan here. Even though Dan was apparently responsible for driving us here, he hadn't dropped by.

"So I kind of needed to talk to you," Nathan said to Luke. "So I'm here because everything's screwed up. I know you don't trust me with Haley, even though somehow Haley told me Beth's been supportive even when I was being a jackass," he glanced at me. I didn't speak, unsure of what to say. It wasn't necessarily support – I just couldn't be a hypocrite considering my feelings for Clay. "But I really like her. And she's hurting right now too. She needs you to open your eyes, man. She feels like she can't be forgiven. And I'm sort of in the same place. This accident, it might not turn out so bad, you know? You can take a break from the game, from the pressure of people's expectations. I wish I had that chance."

But he did. And then he had returned, though I didn't know why.

"This might be hard to believe but, maybe you two were the lucky ones. You can get out."

Luke's hand moved, and I jumped. His eyes opened to look at Nathan and I froze.

"Water," he said, and I nearly burst into tears. Nathan gave it to him, and I gripped Luke's hand tightly.

"Mom! Keith!" I exclaimed. "He's awake!"

Luke's head seemed muddled, like mine had been as we surrounded him, hugging him tightly. I watched Nathan leave, and I rushed after him.

"Nathan!" I called, and he stopped and looked back at me. "Thank you," I said sincerely. He had been able to do what none of us had. He had woken Luke up.

He smiled. "I'm glad he's okay."

Dan was the one to drive us here, to give permission for the surgery that saved Luke's life. And it was Nathan's words that had woken him up. My own head felt muddled as I returned to my family, to the joyous faces of Mom and Keith and the amazing sight of my twin brother finally awake.


	14. Recovery

**Recovery**

I was so excited that Luke was coming home. Everything could get back to how it was, get back on track. My brother was awake and doing well, Mom and Keith were pretty much inseparable, and I was about to be able to sleep in a bed again instead of a hospital chair. Life was good.

"Hey, easy there tough guy," Mom said as Luke tried to get into the drawer beside his bed. "You'll pop a stitch."

"It's just a drawer, Mom," Luke insisted. "I'm not helpless."

"You will be if you keep this up," I teased, sitting beside him as Mom went to the drawer.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"The book Keith got me," Luke said.

"Here it is," Mom said, getting it out and handing it over to him. "Keith's getting the car, got everything?"

"How are we doing today?" the doctor said, coming into the room.

"Like I had my spleen ripped out," Luke quipped.

"You're hilarious," I said. "Maybe your next tattoo should be the Chinese symbol for comedian."

Mom groaned as the doctor noted, "You'll be sore for a while."

"What about basketball?" Luke asked. "Will I get it back? The way it was?"

"Your shoulder was pretty badly damaged," the doctor said carefully. "Full recovery may not be possible."

Luke nodded, and I put my hand on his good shoulder, squeezing gently in support. Basketball was more than just a sport to him, to both of us really.

"Hey guys," Keith said, walking into the room. "Ready to go?"

* * *

We arrived home and headed for Luke's bedroom. Keith was getting the stuff out of the car as Mom and I fussed over Luke.

"Surprise!" Brooke said with a wide grin, having filled his room with plants and various gifts and had also rearranged some of his furniture.

"Wow," Mom said, taken aback.

"What? Bad idea?" Brooke worried.

"No, you just surprised me," Luke said.

"Then mission accomplished," Brooke smiled. "I Feng Shui'd your room. It promotes healing. I just wanted to say 'Welcome Home, Boyfriend'."

She kissed his cheek, and Luke asked for a minute alone with her.

"Keep it short," Mom advised. "You need to be in bed."

Mom closed the door and I couldn't help but quip, "I'm sure they'll end up…"

"Don't finish that sentence," Mom said, but a small smile broke through. "Come on, let's help Keith with the bags."

* * *

Haley and Peyton both visited Lucas throughout the day, while I tried to get Mom alone. Keith was always around though, and only when he offered to give Haley a lift home did I get to talk to Mom.

"So…" I said, sitting next to her on the couch. "Will Keith be staying here tonight?"

"Is this your not so subtle way of asking me about my relationship with Keith?" Mom smiled.

"Is that your not so subtle way of telling me there's a relationship with Keith?" I countered.

"Touché," she said. "We haven't really had time to talk about it, with the accident and all."

"But there will be a relationship to talk about?"

"Yes," she said, and I squealed, giving her a hug.

"I am so happy for you guys," I said. "I'm so glad you finally realised that you two are _perfect_ for each other."

Mom laughed. "I might make some lunch. Wanna go check if Luke wants a sandwich?"

"Sure," I said, and went into his room to find it was empty. "Um…. Mom…"

She took off to find Luke, though we both suspected he was at the River Court.

* * *

I went to the mall, needing a new outfit for my date with Clay that night.

"Brooke?" I said in surprise. The normally bubbly girl was sitting on a bench, looking on the verge of tears. "Are you okay?"

"Didn't Luke tell you?" she asked. I shook my head. "He broke up with me."

"What?!" I exclaimed, sitting beside her. "Oh my God! I had no idea, I am so sorry!"

"I've been trying to get a hold of Peyton…" she said, then saw something over my shoulder. "Peyton!"

I turned to see Haley and Peyton together.

"You didn't get my messages?" Brooke asked Peyton.

"Really? No," Peyton said. "My phone's been whacked out all day. Are you okay?"

"Not really, no," Brooke said, and I put my hand on her shoulder. I wondered what on earth had happened between her and Lucas. The last I had seen, Brooke had been so devoted to him when he was in his coma. I couldn't understand what had gone wrong. "I said I wasn't going to do this, I said it wasn't worth it but it is," she said, starting to cry. "Lucas broke up with me."

"I'm sorry," Peyton said.

"I was looking forward to getting a chance to show him how much he means to me," Brooke said.

"Clearly that coma has knocked all the sense out of him," I said firmly.

"He said he just wants to be friends," Brooke said, wiping her eyes. I winced. There was nothing worse than the 'I just want to be friends' line. I know, I'd been there. "And every idiot knows that that's just code for 'go away'."

"If Lucas said he just wants to be friends, I'm sure he means it," Peyton said comfortingly. I rolled my eyes at her. Luke may be a nice guy, but every girl knew what that line really meant.

"How do you do that with Lucas?" Brooke asked.

"You, sort of, do everything you've been doing," Haley said. "Without the sex part."

"There's a first time for everything, right?" Brooke said, and once again I was struck by just how much Brooke cared for Luke. I couldn't imagine her being like this for any other guy.

"Brooke, I actually need your help," I said, eager to help her keep her mind off everything. "I have a date and nothing to wear."

"Fashion emergency?" she brightened. "I'm your girl."

"Great," I said with a grin that I would soon regret.

* * *

I arrived home loaded down with bags and walking with a slight limp.

"What happened to you?" Luke asked with amusement from the couch.

"Oh, this is funny to you?" I scowled. "I was trying to make Brooke feel better, asshat. What the hell happened? She really loves you, Lucas."

"I know," he said, looking guilty.

"Well then what happened?" I asked, dumping my bags on the couch beside him.

"I just need some time," he said, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You're hiding something," I said. "Need some time? Let's be friends? What the hell, I thought you were a good guy!"

Mom walked in and her eyes widened at the amount of bags. "Shopping spree?"

"I have a date tonight, and decided to ask Brooke to help me pick an outfit," I said, and Mom picked up one of the Victoria's Secrets bag with a raised eyebrow. "Probably for your own peace of mind, Mom, I wouldn't look in there."

She dropped the bag quickly and I gathered everything back up, heading to my room.

"Are you limping?" Mom asked with concern.

"Brooke made me get a Brazilian," I complained. Lucas' face reddened, looking horrified, while Mom just shook her head. "You try saying no to a heartbroken Brooke Davis, I dare you."

* * *

"You look gorgeous," Clay said, and the smirk on his face made me suspicious.

"Have you spoken to Brooke?" I asked, and the smirk grew.

"Maybe," he said as he started to drive. "Apparently, there's a Brazilian treat she's sure I'll enjoy."

"Oh God," I groaned, my head in my hands. Clay and I had only started having sex once we had become official, but still… the idea of Brooke discussing my sex life was embarrassing. "Well, not tonight anyway. Mom pretty much has us on lockdown at the moment she's being so overprotective. You should be proud you got me out of the house at all, mister."

"Please," he scoffed. "Your mom and Keith love me."

That was true. The way he had taken care of me in the hospital, and how he had gotten me home for a shower, meal and nap had forever endeared him in their eyes.

"If they hear the words 'Brazilian treat' they might not," I laughed.

He took my hand. "Good to hear you laugh again," he said.

"It's just great being out of the hospital," I sighed. "Everything's getting back to how it should be. Mom and Keith, me and you. Luke's recovering. Except for the part where he banged his head and apparently got over Brooke."

"Yeah," he said with a frown. "Brooke seemed pretty upset, even though she was trying to distract herself with her 'Makeover Beth Project'."

"Believe me, once you see the Victoria's Secrets purchases you'll be thanking her," I teased. "I just wish they'd get back together. You saw how she was with him the hospital. Almost as good to him as you were to me."

He pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and grinned. "If we rush dinner we can head back to mine and…"

"If we skip dinner we can head back to yours and take our time," I murmured, kissing along his neck.

"Right, cancel dinner then," he said quickly, starting the car back up.

* * *

"So," Mom said with a smile as I ate breakfast at the café. "You got in late last night."

"Right on curfew," I said quickly.

"Have a good night?" she asked.

"Yep," I said, trying to be casual.

"Using protection?" she said, and I spat my orange juice everywhere.

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, mortified. "_Yes_. Seriously Mom, I already had to endure this with Keith."

"We're just looking out for you," she said, heading to the counter.

"I need to eat breakfast elsewhere," I muttered as Jake approached the table beside mine to clear the dishes. "Hey, Jake."

"Hey Beth," he said. I didn't know him that well, but he had been nice enough when he'd come to visit Luke in the hospital. "Did you want a coffee or anything?"

"I'm good," I said, glancing at my mother. "Though I may have just lost my appetite forever."

"Safe sex talk," Jake grinned, and I groaned realising he had overheard. "Hey, as much as I love Jenny…"

"I know," I sighed. "Still…"

He laughed and answered his phone as Brooke walked in.

"Hey," I called her over.

"Hey," she said, attempting a smile. "How'd your date go?"

"Victoria's Secret was a big hit," I said with a grin.

"And?" she prompted me.

"And the Brazilian," I admitted and she grinned triumphantly. "How are you doing, Brooke?"

She shrugged. "The same."

"If it's too hard to be in the café…" I said.

"No, pretty much everywhere reminds me of Lucas so…" she looked at me speculatively. "You know, you've been there for me more than Peyton has. And I thought you would drop me as soon as Luke did."

"Brooke, you've seen my inner bitch," I reminded her. "If I didn't want you as a friend, I wouldn't have asked for advice about Clay, gone to the movies with you or asked for your fashion advice. I would have just told you to get lost."

"Good to know," she said with a nod. "So I know Luke needed some space, but I was on the Internet and I found this website on splenectomies and they recommended this herbal tea, so I picked some up for him."

She held up a bag.

"That's really nice of you, Brooke," I said with a smile. "I'll pass it along."

"Thanks," she said, but I could hear the slight disappointment in her voice.

"Or come by the house," I said. I really was Team Brucas.

"Okay," she said, her face brightening.

Luke was asleep, so we put on a movie.

"God, I love this movie," Brooke said.

"I know," I said with a wistful sigh. If only men everywhere could be like Ryan Gosling in _The Notebook._ We passed the tissues between us, sobbing as Noah and Allie drifted off together.

"I should probably check on Lucas," I said, checking the clock. "See if he wants anything to eat."

"Will you let me?" Brooke asked hopefully.

"Sure," I said, hoping the whole Florence Nightingale effect could work in our favour and get them back together. Brooke went down the hall and a moment later the phone rang.

"Hello," I answered.

"Beth?"

"Peyton?"

"Luke's collapsed," she said, sounding panicked.

"Get him to the hospital, I'll meet you there," I said quickly. "Brooke!" I called in a panic, hanging up on Peyton. I had to call Mom and Keith I was completely panicked. "It's Lucas, he collapsed. Let's go!"

She followed behind me immediately. Brooke drove me to the café where we picked up Mom, and Keith was going to meet us there.

We all rushed through the hospital, easily finding Lucas. We knew our way around pretty well now.

"Oh my God, Lucas, are you okay?" Mom said, rushing up to him. Brooke and I had linked arms, looking at Lucas with concern.

"Yeah, I think so," Luke said, his voice hoarse.

"The doctor said his fever is going down," Peyton added.

"Where were you?" Mom demanded. She'd already busted him once at the River Court, and she was really unhappy now.

"Peyton?" Brooke asked, and I was taken aback by the coldness in her voice. I attributed it to the panic about Luke though.

"I was down at the River Court," Luke spoke up. "I know I shouldn't have, but I had to get out. I guess I overdid it. I started feeling pretty bad, and then Peyton drove by."

"You're an idiot," I said affectionately, with a sniff. Even if I was annoyed at him for breaking up with Brooke, I never wanted him in this place again.

"Now you guys are here, I'll get going," Peyton said.

"Thank you, Peyton," Mom said.

"Sure, I'll see you guys later," Peyton said, walking out.

"I'm sorry," Luke said to Mom.

"You should be," she said. "Honestly, Lucas…"

"Look, Mom, wait," he said. "Don't yell at me now, wait til we get home."

"You gonna be okay?" Brooke asked, releasing our arms.

"Yeah,"

Brooke turned and walked out without a word. I was confused by her suddenly cold behaviour. After all, she had only just been bringing by tea for him. Regardless, I focused my attention back on Luke, trying to focus on the fact that he was okay and trying to calm my pounding heart from the phone call that had said he had collapsed.

* * *

Keith insisted on accompanying us home, just as worried about Luke as Mom and I were.

"Sit down," Mom said to Luke firmly. He did so, and I decided to go make him some of that tea. It couldn't hurt, right? "Now," she said. "Tell me why you and Peyton were really together."

I looked over at them in surprise, abruptly stopping. I hadn't given too much thought to what he was doing before, focusing only on the fact that he was okay.

"I told you," Luke said.

"Lucas, you're lying to me," Mom said. "And you wouldn't be unless you're doing something you're not proud of."

"I went to see Peyton," Luke admitted. "We want to be together."

I was dumbfounded. How the hell could he do this to Brooke?

"Behind Brooke's back?" I snapped.

"I broke up with Brooke," Luke corrected me.

"You didn't tell her about Peyton," I said. "She's been wondering why Peyton hasn't been there for her while she's been heartbroken!"

"It's a shabby way to treat someone who's really been there for you, Luke," Keith said quietly.

"Great, so you're all ganging up on me?" Luke said bitterly.

"I am so disappointed in you, Lucas," I informed him, turning and walking into my bedroom. I didn't get any sleep that night. I knew I had to tell Brooke about all this, but I didn't know how.

I just knew that she deserved to know she was being betrayed.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hey guys, hope you are all enjoying this story. Reading some of your reviews makes my day! **

**I am heading overseas for the next six weeks, but rest assured I will be back and the story will be continued. Keep reading and let me know your thoughts :)**


	15. Booze and Betrayal

"Hey," I said, giving Clay a kiss as I slid into the booth opposite him. We were meeting up for a quick breakfast before school.

"Hey," he grinned, which faded. "You look like hell."

"Why, thank you boyfriend," I laughed.

"You know what I mean," he said, sounding worried. He could read me too well already.

I sighed. "I kind of need to tell Brooke something, but I'm kind of scared she's going to go all…"

"Brooke on you?" he offered, and I nodded.

"You've been friends with her for years, right?" I asked.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I take it this isn't good news. Just… maybe somewhere where there aren't things she can throw at you?"

"Okay," I said, even more freaked out now. "Thanks for that, babe."

"Are you going to tell me what this bad news is?" he asked as the waitress approached.

"Just as soon as I've told Brooke," I promised, opening my menu as Clay started to order. As much as I wasn't looking forward to it, I felt like Brooke had the right to know. And I wasn't any kind of friend if I was keeping it from her. I had asked Lucas to tell her the night before, and he was insistent on remaining silent.

It was like I didn't even know who my twin was anymore.

* * *

As Clay and I walked into school that morning, I spotted Brooke by her locker, and she did not look happy.

"Hey, Brooke!" I called, and Clay gave me an encouraging look as he left me to it. She closed her locker and paused long enough for me to catch up. "I need to talk to you," I glanced around the crowded hallway. "In private. There's something you need to know."

She looked at me in surprise. "You didn't know the whole time?"

"Wait, you know?" I said in equal surprise. She pulled me by the arm into an empty classroom.

"I found out yesterday," she said, the fury leaving her shaking. "When I went to check on Luke. His computer was on Peyton's website, and I saw them there together. I knew they'd lied."

"Oh my God," I said, horrified. What a terrible way to find out both your boyfriend (or recent ex) and your best friend were betraying you. "I found out last night and… I'm so sorry."

She sighed. "As _disgusted_ as I am by Lucas and Peyton… you aren't either of them, Beth. You were about to tell me, weren't you?"

"Well, yeah," I said. Of course I would tell her.

"I've never seen you this nervous before," she said with amusement. "Well, except over Clay. We're cool, okay?"

I nodded, relieved that she hadn't shot the messenger as I had feared. Still, I couldn't imagine how hard it was to be betrayed by two people you loved like that. "Are you okay?"

"No," she said honestly. "I am _pissed_."

"I don't blame you," I said. "How does gorging ourselves on chocolate and ice cream sound?"

"If you add wine to that, you bet," she smirked, a little bit of her normal self coming through.

"Fine," I agreed with a laugh. "I'll tell Mom it's a slumber party."

"Meet me after cheerleading practice," she said. "If I haven't killed the slut formerly known as my best friend and facing jail time, chocolate, ice cream and wine night is on."

The classroom door opened and we headed out, and I gave Brooke a small smile as we split into different directions.

* * *

After school, I locked my locker and stood up, putting my bag over my shoulder. There was no Drama Club today, so I was planning on waiting for Brooke with a script in hand. I'd already called Mom and she was happy to let me spend the night at Brooke's.

"I'm glad you're still friends with her," Mom had said. "Peyton and Lucas have a lot to answer for."

"They really do," I'd agreed. Mom had dropped me off a bag of clothes, she was that encouraging of me helping Brooke out.

I started to walk down the hall, and smiled as Skills approached me. We didn't get to spend as much time together as we used to. It was easy when all my friends were in the one group. Now I had Clay, I had Brooke, and I felt a little guilty I hadn't been around as much.

At Skill's warm smile, I was glad once again that my best friend was a guy. It made for a lot less drama.

"What's happening?" he greeted.

"The usual drama," I said drily. "How about you?"

"Saw Luke in the weights room today," he said. "You know he's been pushing himself pretty hard."

"What?" I said in surprise. He had only just barely survived a car accident, and now he was trying to work out? "What is wrong with him?" I groaned.

"So, everybody's been talking," he said carefully. "He cheat on Brooke with Peyton?"

"Yep," I frowned. "I'm meeting up with Brooke now. I'm so mad at Luke."

"Beth…"

"I know, I know I just almost lost him, so I should cut him some slack," I said. "But this isn't Luke. He's supposed to be the person I know better than anyone. He's supposed to be one of the good guys."

"You know he's one of the good guys," Skills reminded me. "Luke's still Luke, even when he makes mistakes."

_He made a mistake Dan would make,_ I wanted to say. But then, could I really hold that against my twin brother? When I was the one who'd inherited the Scott temper, making me more comparable to Nathan and Dan than Luke ever could be?

"Yeah," I said softly. "I have to meet up with Brooke, but movie marathon this weekend? I'll even let you pick the movies."

"Done," he agreed immediately. It wasn't often I relinquished the rights to select the movie.

I headed down the hallway, lost in thought. I opened the gym door and stopped abruptly when I saw Dan and Lucas were in the middle of a conversation. This would be interesting.

"I'm welcome?" Luke said incredulously and I winced. I took it Dan had brought up the accident.

"Yeah, the whole rescue thing," Dan said with his usual arrogance. He was such an idiot. "Don't sweat it."

"If you think I owe you a 'thank you', you gotta be kidding me," Luke snapped.

"Luke," I said gently, but I was ignored. Even if he had annoyed me recently, there would never be a time I didn't have his back. Especially around Dan.

"Oh, what did I do now? Save your life wrong?" Dan said.

"Don't push it, Dan," I said with annoyance. "There's plenty else you've done wrong."

"Beth's right," Luke said. "What you did doesn't change who you are. It doesn't make you a good guy."

In other words, it didn't make him a father after years of abandonment.

"You're right, Lucas," Dan said. "I pulled you from that car so I could make your life a living hell. It was all a big plan so you could watch my son take his team to the state championships. Is that it? Is that what you want to hear?"

At the devastated look on my brother's face as Nathan scored confirmed why he had been pushing himself so hard with the weights. He was scared he was going to lose it all, after fighting so hard to prove he was good enough.

Luke stormed out, slamming the door open and gaining the attention of most of the basketball team and cheerleading squad, ignoring me as I called his name.

"What is wrong with you?" I demanded of Dan.

"Oh what now?" he sighed. "I'm not the devil, Beth."

"No, you just want to rub it in Luke's face that what? You're a hero now?" I mocked. "You've done one decent thing, Dan. _One._"

"Two, technically," he corrected me. "I saved you too, or did you forget that?"

"How can I forget it?" I retorted. "This is the longest conversation we've ever had, and it's over you wanting to be fawned over. _Gee, thanks for being a decent human being for once._" I said with utmost sarcasm. "Is that good enough for you?"

I had started to walk away, when he spoke up.

"Should watch that temper of yours, sweetheart," he said mockingly, making my blood boil. I refused to turn around, continuing on my way and ignored the curious looks Nathan, Peyton and Brooke sent my way.

I sat as far away from Dan as I could. Once practice was over, I watched as he followed Nathan out of the gym. Unsettlingly, I actually felt kind of sorry for Nathan.

"Let's go," Brooke said to me as soon as practice was over, linking her arm through mine and speeding us out of the gym. "That wine could not come sooner."

"Brooke!" Peyton called from behind us, and Brooke paused. The coldness that settled over her features at the sound of her ex-best friend's voice was unnerving. I hadn't seen this side of her since the sponsorship party, before her relationship with Luke. "Sooner or later you're going to have to talk to me!"

Brooke turned us around. "Why don't I just smile at you? You know, Peyton-style: pretend everything's okay and then lie to your face?"

"If I could go back to how it was, I would," Peyton said.

"Wow, I should go…" I began, but Brooke kept her arm tightly around mine. I realised she needed me there beside her, and went quiet.

"Back to when you were cheating with my boyfriend and I was too stupid to realise it?" Brooke said.

"You're not stupid," Peyton and I said simultaneously, and I sent her a glare. I didn't want any kind of similarity between me and Sourpuss.

"Did you sleep with him?" Brooke asked bluntly.

"No! No, I didn't, okay? We stopped before it got that far!" Peyton said passionately, as if that made it any better.

"Wow, how good of you," I said sarcastically, unable to bite my tongue. "What a loyal friend to not have fucked your best friend's boyfriend. Just everything else, right Peyton?"

"This is between me and Brooke," Peyton snapped. "It is none of your business…"

"I would watch your mouth, Peyton," Brooke warned. "Beth is a friend of mine. An actual friend, you know, the kind that doesn't _lie._"

"I am so sorry, okay?" Peyton exclaimed.

"Are you in love with him?" Brooke demanded. Peyton was silent – either she was embarrassed to admit she was, or embarrassed to admit she wasn't. Either way, it was no excuse. "You know, I don't even care. He's all yours now, have a great life together."

With that, Brooke spun us back around and we walked away. She was shaking.

"You know what we need?" I said, and she looked at me with anger.

"A baseball bat?" she snarled.

"Legally Blonde," I said with a nod.

To my relief, Brooke burst into laughter. "Alright," she agreed.

* * *

That night, Brooke and I were pleasantly tipsy when my mom called.

"Hello?" I said, struggling to maintain a straight face. Brooke took that moment to throw a piece of popcorn down my shirt, screaming in triumph as it went down my cleavage. "Brooke!" I laughed. "Sorry, Mom, what's up?"

"You haven't been answering your phone," she said, sounding worried.

"Sorry, we've been blasting music," I said apologetically. After the movie, we had turned up the music and danced our asses off. Brooke had been highly amused by my rap repertoire. "What's up?"

"Have you seen your brother?"

"No," I said. "Why?"

"He took off during dinner," she said. "He's going through a hard time and just took off. I've checked with Haley, Keith and Peyton but they don't know either. Do you know where he could be?"

"I'll try and find out," I promised. My concern sobered me up quickly, and at my serious expression Brooke's giddiness went away.

"What's wrong?" she asked as I hung up.

"I know it's not your problem," I said contritely. "But Luke's kind of gone AWOL and Mom's worried. I'm kind of worried too. Haley, Sourpuss and Keith don't know where he is either."

I called Skills, who let me know Luke hadn't shown up at the River Court.

As I got off the phone, Brooke heaved a sigh. "Come on," she said.

"What?" I said, bewildered.

"I have an idea where he could be," she said. "But I'm doing this for you, Beth, not your ass of a brother."

"Thanks," I said gratefully. A knock on the door made us turn.

"Hey," Peyton said, and I couldn't believe she had the nerve to just show up like this at Brooke's house.

"What are you doing here?" I said, arms folded across my chest.

"Neither of you were answering your phone," Peyton said.

"Apparently you're not getting the message," Brooke snapped. "Beth and I don't wanna talk to you. I can't believe you actually came over here."

"If this is about my brother, we're on it," I said with annoyance, pulling on a hoodie from Keith's Body Shop. She didn't move. "We don't need your help, either."

Peyton folded her arms. "I care about him too, you know."

"Fine," I snapped. "I don't have time for this."

And so somehow, Brooke, Peyton and I headed on a search for an angry Lucas.

This was going to end well.

* * *

The bar was busy but not too crowded as we walked through.

"What are we doing here?" Peyton asked.

"Lucas and I had our first date here," Brooke said.

"Oh, the infamous tattoo incident," I nodded in recollection.

"So you think he came here looking for you?" Peyton asked. I rolled my eyes at her.

"No, I think he came here because he knows they'll take the fake ID I got him," Brooke said as we approached the bar.

"So if I was interested in one of those…" I said. My own fake ID had been confiscated by my mom when I got grounded for getting drunk.

"I can hook you up," Brooke grinned as the bar tender came up to us.

"What are you having, ladies?" he asked.

"We're looking for my brother," I said. "He's tall, blonde…"

"Kind of a loner," Peyton added.

"Cheats on his girlfriend with skinny blonde bitches," Brooke contributed.

"Nice," the bartender said.

I spotted Luke's sling on the bar and grabbed it. "He was wearing this on his shoulder," I said holding it up.

"Right, you just missed him," the bartender said. "But he wasn't a 'loner' when he left, if you know what I mean."

Really? Did he really need to share that?

Brooke smirked, delighted at Peyton's misfortune. "You know, I'm gonna have a beer," Brooke decided.

"Make it two," Peyton said.

"Hell, three," I shrugged. Might as well add to that tiny bit of buzz left from the wine Brooke and I had shared. I decided not to call Mom, not wanting to rat my brother out. Hopefully, he would be home soon and could explain himself to Mom where he had been.

We got our drinks and sat in a tense silence.

"You know, it's funny," Brooke said. "I look around at all these great looking guys and all I wanna do is smash their pretty little faces."

Peyton laughed.

"Don't even ask what I'm thinking when I look at you," Brooke warned.

"And on that note, I need to go the bathroom," I said, getting up. I looked between them. "Don't kill each other."

By the time I got back, Peyton was gone and Brooke was blunting telling a guy 'no'.

I threw back the last of my beer and put my arm around her. "Don't let Sourpuss get you down," I advised her. "Or my idiot brother. Got more wine at home?"

She gave a small sad smile. "Let's go."

* * *

I was working on the books at the garage when Luke came in, sharing a brief conversation with Keith before heading my way.

"Hey," he said, leaning against my desk.

"Hey," I said, putting my pen down. "Have a good night last night?"

"Shouldn't have run off, I'm sorry," he said.

"We went to the bar last night," I informed him, and he paled.

"We?"

"Peyton, Brooke and I," I said, and at his surprised look, I added, "They're still at war. But we were looking for you. The bartender said you left with a girl."

He sighed. "I know I haven't been me lately. I'm glad you and Brooke are friends though."

"I love you, Luke," I said honestly. "But lately, it's like I don't know who you are. I hate that."

We had always been a close family. I didn't like feeling so distant from Luke.

"I've been screwing up a lot," he acknowledged. "I'm gonna try and make things right. Try and be…"

"The Luke you used to be?" I suggested, and he smiled.

"Yeah," he said. "We cool?"

"Yeah," I said, giving him a hug.

"Love you, little sister," he said teasingly.

"Five minutes!" I protested, making him laugh. I couldn't help but smile, feeling like my brother was back.


	16. Go Ravens!

"What's wrong with you?"

Luke had just walked into the café with a foul look on his face. He sat beside me, placed his head on the books and groaned. "Whitey is making me help Nathan," he said, voice muffled.

"With what?" I asked. "Doesn't he have Haley to tutor him?"

"Not in basketball and the how to's of creating open spaces when double teamed," Luke said.

"Wow, Whitey is evil," I said. Clearly he was trying to get Luke and Nathan to bond which, let's face it, was pretty much the stupidest idea ever. I wished someone would pass that along to Clay, who kept dropping hints that we should double date with Nathan and Haley.

Keith came into the café, giving Mom a kiss hello. Her face lit up as she saw him, and Deb smiled genuinely at Tree Hill's newest couple. It was still kind of weird, seeing them together after so many years of hoping it would happen. They had really pulled together while Luke had been in the hospital, and Keith was around our house more and more as the weeks went by.

"Karen! Deb!" one of the booster moms from the basketball team rushed in, looking thrilled. "So glad I found two booster moms in one place. Look, Jack and Judy Johnson backed out of the Classic at the last minute and I need two fill in chaperones."

"Oh, I have a meeting with my attorney," Deb said apologetically. "I can't cancel."

"I heard about you and Dan," the booster mom said, in that classically fake sympathetic way. "How awful," with that, she turned to Mom and Keith. "Keith, uncle to two Ravens players! And Karen, how was Italy? We really missed you at the silent auction, and the pancake breakfast and the bake sale and…"

"Okay, when does the bus leave?" Mom asked. "We'll be there."

"I think Mom and Keith are joining us at the Classic," I murmured to Luke. This wasn't the best of news. I had already been planning on sneaking into Clay's room, after all. Apparently, the Classic was an excuse to party all weekend.

Now my mom and uncle were joining us. Great.

* * *

"Now, I don't want you to think we're trailing you like we're paranoid," Mom said to me and Luke. Keith handed Mom her bag, pulling his own out after. Everyone was getting ready to get on the bus for the Classic, a huge basketball game and cheerleading competition, which meant I heard about it for weeks from both Clay and Brooke.

Brooke was terrifying her team with her desperation to win, and I was thankful that I received the niceness of Brooke, while kind of feeling sorry for the cheerleaders. Never thought I'd be sorry for a cheerleader, but anyway.

"But you are," Luke teased. "That's cool."

"Just no making out in the backseat, you two," I laughed.

I got onto the bus, and Clay waved a hand at me. I grinned, taking a seat next to my boyfriend.

"Hey," he said, kissing me. "Ready to party?"

A throat cleared, and sure enough it was Mom and Keith.

"Clay," Keith nodded.

"Chaperones," I said by way of explanation, as they took a seat directly behind us.

"Awesome," Clay sighed.

* * *

I scored a room with Haley, which was a relief when Luke texted me to say the team's room were in alphabetical order, so he was sharing with Nathan.

"I have a feeling there will be a few black eyes before the end of this weekend," I said to Haley, flopping back onto the bed.

Having received a similarly annoyed text from Nathan, Haley couldn't help but agree.

"Hey, Luke and I were meeting up for pizza," she said. "Wanna come?"

"Can't," I said. "Hooking up with Clay tonight."

"Oh, I bet you are," she winked, cracking me up.

I headed to Clay's room, sighing when it was Tim who opened the door.

"Why hello there," he said, full of fake seduction. "Beth, isn't it?"

I gave him a supremely unimpressed look, arms folded. "Is Clay here?"

"You know, I could show you a good time," he began, squealing in pain as Clay appeared to punch him in the arm.

"Go find something to do, Tim," he said, pulling me in while simultaneously pushing Tim out. The door slammed closed in his face and I couldn't help but laugh.

"You're so mean to him," I said. "Though he kind of asks for it."

"Nobody hits on my girl," Clay said, sending a shiver down my spine.

"Oh really?" I said.

"Really," he said, kissing along my neck.

However, just as things were getting really heated, someone started knocking at the door.

"Ignore it," Clay said, and I was inclined to follow his lead until my name started being called.

"Is that Peyton?" I said in surprise. Clay groaned as I got up, pulling on my shirt to see why Peyton Sawyer of all people would search me out.

"Sorry to interrupt," Peyton said as I opened the door, apparently well aware of what we were doing.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Theresa has the chicken pox," she said.

"Okay?" I wondered what this had to do with me. "And?"

"And we're a cheerleader short for our routine tomorrow," she said.

"And?" I repeated. She gave me a look. "Oh, no. No way."

"Beth, come on," Peyton said. "I know you and Brooke have gotten close. This would really mean a lot to her."

"And yet she's smart enough to know that I am not cheerleader material," I said, turning and walking back into the room. Peyton followed me.

"You're an actress," she said. "You don't exactly have stage fright."

"That's different," I said, though well aware that I had done a few musicals and dancing. Even though I was now close friends with a cheerleader, I couldn't imagine myself trying to be one. I did not belong with the cheerleaders.

"If we don't find a replacement, we'll have to forfeit," she said.

"What are you talking about?" Clay asked.

"Peyton's gone insane," I informed him. "She wants me to be a cheerleader for a day."

Clay's eyes went glassy and I knew I'd lost him. "You _have _to do that," he insisted.

"You are a perve," I said, though not unaffectionate. I turned back to Peyton. "And I'm sorry, I know Claire Young is the bane of Brooke's existence, but…"

"You know how important this is to Brooke," Peyton said. "Do you know how terrible it is to be disconnected from your best friend? Look, I really hurt Brooke, and I just don't want her to be disappointed again."

"Damn it, Peyton," I muttered. While she had brought this upon herself, I begrudgingly appreciated her efforts to try and fix her friendship with Brooke. "Fine, but this is for Brooke."

"Yes!" Clay yelled triumphantly, making Peyton laugh and me roll my eyes. "Best weekend ever."

Peyton excitedly pulled me into her and Brooke's room, where I was surprised to find my mother sitting talking to Brooke.

"Beth said she'd fill in for Theresa," Peyton announced.

"Really?" Mom and Brooke said simultaneously in shock.

"For one day," I was quick to clarify. "Just to help out."

"Thanks Beth, but it's impossible," Brooke declared.

"Brooke, you're our captain," Peyton said. "We can still do it. You just need to get off your ass and stop pouting."

"We'd have to practice all night," Brooke answered. "And it's past curfew," she added slyly to Mom.

"If anyone asks," Mom said, getting up. "I was never here."

She gave me a kiss on the cheek as she walked by, looking proud that I was going to be a cheerleader. All I'd wanted was a party weekend with my boyfriend.

"Okay. Okay. I'm gonna get the rest of the girls," Brooke said quickly. "We're gonna need coffee, black, sleep is our enemy, and we're going to need to do something about that hair."

I gave Brooke a look.

"Or not," she said quickly. "Let's go!"

Goodbye fun weekend. Hello, Cheer Nazi!

* * *

It always took me a little while to get used to choreography. I could sing and act pretty well, but always had to work a little harder to get the dancing down.

"No, Beth, it's feet together, apart, then clap," Brooke said, looking ready to have a breakdown.

"God, I'm actually finding newfound respect for cheerleaders," I muttered, making Peyton snigger.

"Good, find your solidarity and work it out, coz we're on in twelve hours," Brooke said.

"Aww," a voice said mockingly. I looked up to see a skanky group of cheerleaders and realized this must be the infamous Claire Young that Brooke had been bitching about the past few weeks. "Cute routine, girls. Too bad those moves are so'03. Where'd you find your choreographer, anyway? In the Yellow Pages, under "S" for "sucks"?"

Peyton and I both went to Brooke, flanking her at each side.

"No, that's where I found your boyfriend," Brooke quipped.

"You know, if I were you, I'd get some beauty sleep," Claire advised. "I think it's the only thing that's going to help."

Before I could react, and believe me that bitch was about to get it, Peyton stepped in.

"If I were you, I'd step back from my friend," she warned them, looking ready to kick all kinds of ass.

"Whatever," the bitch laughed. "And remember, ladies… jazz fingers!"

"I could give her a jazz finger," I muttered as they left.

"Well, she's obviously scared coz their routine probably sucks," Brooke said, suddenly upbeat.

"Actually, it's good," Mouth said, suddenly walking onto the stage. I was taken aback. What was he doing here? "I've seen it."

"How good?" Brooke asked.

"Lots of spins, some tumbles," he said.

"Okay, give me information I can use, Mouth, what are the moves exactly?"

And oh my God, Mouth proceeded to enact their routine. I stood with my mouth open as he shook his ass.

"And three other teams are using Junior Senior," he said, and Brooke looked about ready to pass out.

"Nice moves," I said to Mouth, high fiving him. "Where did that come from?"

"Years of dance lessons I would rather the guys not know about," he laughed.

"Your secret's safe with me," I assured him.

Brooke then decided to rework the entire routine, and while it was actually turning out pretty well, the best part of the whole night was Brooke bribing the night manager to get us pool and hot tub access to relax. Even Mouth got in the hot tub with us.

I was to be presented first in my Ravens Cheerleaders uniform.

"I look stupid," I muttered to Peyton as we headed to the pool.

"Okay, I don't get you," she declared. I raised an eyebrow. I thought it was pretty obvious we didn't get each other. "How can you stand on a stage and pretend to be someone else if you find it weird to do this?"

"Because I'm pretending to be someone else," I said, as if it were obvious. Maybe just to me, then. "I'm plain old Beth Scott. I was always one of the boys, you know? And suddenly the whole thing with Clay happened, and I became friends with Brooke and I'm still not quite sure this is actually my life."

I abruptly stopped, wondering why I was confiding in Peyton Sawyer of all people.

"Sorry," I said, embarrassed.

"Don't be," she said, with a surprisingly gentle smile. "Maybe none of us sees ourselves the way others see us. You're gorgeous, you're a loyal friend, and you totally kicked ass on that routine tonight."

"Better than Brooke kicking mine," I quipped, and we laughed.

"Just enjoy it," Peyton advised.

"I will," I decided as we approached the door leading to the pool. I hesitated for a moment before adding, "Thanks."

She grinned, leading the way outside.

"Ta da!" she said, spinning me around.

"Actor Girl, you look bitching!" Brooke said with a wide smile.

"Yeah, I kind of do, don't I?" I said in surprise, as the group around Brooke all smiled and agreed with her.

"Now get your suit, hot tub therapy," Brooke said. "Both of you."

Wow, including Peyton. That was a big step.

"Oh my God," a voice groaned and I turned to see Clay collapse to his knees in front of me dramatically. "This is why I love you."

"This is only temporary," I reminded him. "Just filling in for Theresa, remember?"

He rose off his knees to kiss me. "So hot," he murmured, but just before he could kiss me, a group of his friends from the basketball team tackled him into the water. I laughed as an all-out splashing war erupted between the cheerleading and basketball teams.

"Hey," I grinned at Luke, who had just come in, looking at me in uniform in surprise. "They needed an extra. Kind of weird, right?"

"Yeah, definitely weird," he said. "I think you look kind of ridiculous."

The smile slid off my face. Just as I was starting to feel like maybe I could pull this off, Lucas had to bring me back to reality.

"You've hooked up with two cheerleaders, you hypocrite," I snapped. "Sorry for actually trying something new, Lucas."

"Come on," he said with exasperation. "That's not it, and you know it."

"Actually, that's all there should be to it," I said, hands on my hips. "Our own mother was a cheerleader, too. Do you think she's ridiculous?"

"This isn't you," he said, sounding annoyed.

"Maybe I got sick of being one of the guys," I said, turning and storming off. This wasn't about me trying something new, he was right. It was that I was joining into the world that had been full of people we had once mocked, people who had hated us. But my boyfriend was a part of it, Brooke was a part of it and even Peyton had tried today to make me feel included. Hell, even Mouth was enjoying himself.

It's like I was betraying Lucas by having fun with them. I was tired of feeling like I didn't belong. I was tired, period. I was going to bed.

* * *

I felt nauseous as we walked into the cheerleading competition.

"Beth!" Clay called, and I went over to him quickly. "I've never seen you so nervous. Relax, babe."

"I'll relax when this is over," I said, tugging at my shirt. "Is it hot in here?"

"It's just you," he winked, making me laugh. "You'll be great. Love you."

"Love you," I said, as Brooke arrived to drag me away.

"And I love you," she teased. "Do you two argue over who's prettier?"

"No," I rolled my eyes. "We called it a draw."

Our performance actually went off without a hitch, I couldn't believe it. As we cheered our way off stage, I heard Luke say my name. I ignored him and jumped into Clay's arms.

"Told you you'd be great," he said. "That was amazing."

"Why, thank you," I said with false modesty. I leaned in conspiratorially. "I convinced Brooke this uniform didn't need to be returned until Monday."

Clay groaned. "You're gonna kill me, babe."

"It'll be worth it," I promised, kissing him.

* * *

Brooke sagged in disappointment as our team failed to place first or even second in the competition.

"Can I borrow your car, a hose and your garage?" she asked Peyton, ever the dramatic one. And I thought I was bad.

"You did a great job," Peyton assured her. "We all thought so."

"Yeah, Brooke," I said. "It's not for just anyone I get into a cheerleading uniform."

"You mean other than Clay tonight?" she retorted. This is what I got for telling her why I wanted the uniform for the rest of the weekend.

"Our final award of the competition for Best Original Choreography goes to… Brooke Davis, captain and choreographer of the Tree Hill Ravens!"

"Yes, you bet that skank!" I high fived her as all the girls in the team shrieked.

We all headed back to our rooms to change when Brooke called to me.

"What's up?" I asked, taken aback when she hugged me tightly.

"Thanks for all your help," she said, and I had a feeling she wasn't just talking about the competition.

"Sure," I said. "Us bitches have to stick together, right?"

"Right," she nodded, her dimples appearing. "You're a good friend, you know that?"

"You too, Brooke Davis," I said, hugging her again. "I better get out of this uniform."

"Before Clay tears it off?" she teased.

"I'm never telling you anything again," I threatened, but she just laughed as she walked towards her room. Grinning, I entered my own room to find Haley waiting.

"Look at you, Miss Cheerleader," she said, miming jumping with pom-poms.

"Maybe you should have covered me in the competition," I said with a laugh.

"Me, the natural born klutz?" Haley scoffed. "Yeah, right. Luke came by looking for you."

"Glad I wasn't here," I said, still irritated with my twin.

"Glad you are now," my brother's voice said, and with a groan I turned to see Luke coming out of the bathroom.

"Surprise," Haley offered weakly. "I promised Nathan I'd meet up with him. Don't fight too hard."

"Yes, Mom," I mocked as she left. "So, did you two make up yet?"

Haley had commiserated with me and a block of chocolate the night before. Luke had been being a dick to her too, over her relationship with Nathan. I suppose with the two boys sharing a room, it was more in his face now than ever before. Not that I was wild on the two of them dating, firmly believing Haley could do better, I saw he made her happy and so kept out of it.

Lucas could do well to learn the same lesson.

"Yes," he said. "You know, you did amazing out there."

"Really?" I said. "Thought I looked ridiculous?"

"Look, since you started dating Clay and became friends with Brooke…"

"Friends with _your _girlfriend at the time," I reminded him.

He gave me a look to let him finish. Reluctantly, I allowed him to continue. "We don't hang out like we used to. I know that's not all on you. But I see you becoming someone I didn't really think you'd be."

"That's a bad thing?" I asked quietly.

"No," he said honestly. "I just didn't expect it, you know. I didn't think you cared about being one of the guys."

"Most of the time, I don't," I explained. "But it was fun to shake things up a little, you know? And I could do with the support of my brother instead of you tearing me down."

"Fair enough," he said, hands in the air. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"Apology accepted," I said, knowing his attitude half had to do with me and the rest to do with Haley dating Nathan. "I've got to change, but I'll be quick if you wanna sit with me."

"You're not gonna cheer at the game?" Luke teased, and I punched his arm. Groaning with pain, I realized I'd hit his sore arm.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry," I said guiltily. Well, not that sorry after what he'd said, but still.

* * *

With Luke's still injured arm from the car accident, he was unable to play, although I knew he desperately wanted to. Haley saved us both seats, and we joined her.

I whistled loudly as Clay came onto the court, and he grinned.

"Where's the uniform?" he called, and I laughed but gave him the finger. He caught it as if I blew him a kiss, well used to my sarcasm. I couldn't help but smile.

"Weirdly perfect match," Luke commented, seeing Clay and I interact.

"Speaking of perfect match," I said, indicating to where Mom and Keith were sitting together further down from us. They weren't kissing or anything, but their body language (the way they held us, their bodies angled towards each other, the smiles) showed how well they were going.

Luke just grinned as the game began. Tensions ran high in the last seconds of the game as the Ravens were a point behind, but incredibly Nathan overcame being double teamed by actually using Luke's advice and doing the fade away shot.

"Were you rooting for Nathan?" Haley asked Luke.

"I was rooting for the team," he corrected her.

"Whatever you say," she grinned. She turned to me. "What are you and Clay doing next weekend?"

"Busy with the cheerleading uniform," I retorted, not wanting to go on a double date. Luke groaned.

* * *

Back at school after a weird weekend and Mom and Keith hadn't arrived at the car yet, but I put Luke's and my bags in the back.

"That shoulder better get fixed soon," I laughed. "Where's the chivalry?"

"You're very chivalrous," Luke countered as Nathan approached us.

"You know, I would have hit that shot with or without you," Nathan informed Luke.

I looked at Luke, wondering if his reaction would be similar to how he'd been behaving with me and Haley that weekend.

"Not if I was guarding you," Luke smiled.

"Get your ass back and we'll see," Nathan countered, much to my surprise.

"Hey guys," Haley said, standing beside Nathan. "This is a first."

"Beth!" a guy called. "What's up?"

"Hey," I said with a smile.

"Who was that?" Nathan asked.

"I have no idea," I said honestly, a little bewildered.

"I guess that's a first too," Luke said. "See you guys later."

Luke and I got in the car to wait for Mom and Keith.

"That was weird," I said.

"Yeah," he said thoughtfully. "You know Haley's definitely going to organize that double date now."

"Lucas!" I complained.

"Well, you're Miss Popular now," he said, referring to the random guy asking me 'what's up?'

"I remember a time trying to organize your pimping rights, Mr. Popular," I countered.

"Touché," he grinned as Mom and Keith got into the front seat.

"Look at my little cheerleader," Mom smiled.

"It was a one time thing for Brooke," I groaned.

"I don't know," Mom said thoughtfully. "I think we'll see you in that cheerleading uniform again."


End file.
